Reunited
by LiveAloha
Summary: Percy and Annabeth were childhood friends but became distant in their middle school years. Percy's mom accepts a job across the world, causing Percy to leave his life behind in New York. But after 4 years, Percy returns and surprises everyone. Will Annabeth and Percy's past catch on to them or help them realize that they were meant to be together? AU.
1. Crush over Best Friend

_Crush Over Best Friend_

"The opposite of b, plus or minus the square root of b-squared minus four- a- c, over two-a equals x," Annabeth explained to Percy as he tried copying what she said but failed. He abruptly shut his math book and groaned in frustration.

"This is _so _confusing!" Percy exclaimed. Annabeth sighed and also closed her math book to face her best friend.

"C'mon, Perce. It will be really simple if you memorize this formula. You can solve any polynomial if you just remember it," she said to him while patting him on the back. Annabeth spent an hour trying to explain how the quadratic formula worked but Percy just couldn't understand with all the complicated numbers, text, and symbols. He would always complain that alphabets shouldn't be in math or formulas shouldn't even be that long. But all Annabeth would do is push him and repeat the same thing over and over again. Annabeth couldn't blame Percy for his frustration because she knew he had dyslexia just like her. It made reading harder than anything but Annabeth learned to control it more than Percy.

"Food is ready, kids!" Percy's mom walked into the living room, interrupting the study session and they were having. Percy's eyes lit up with excitement and relief, mostly because he wanted to get away from the text books. Annabeth, too, was relieved because she didn't have to deal with Percy's continuous complaining. Both of them ran into the kitchen only to be introduced to blue pancakes and cookies. Percy's favorite. Both Annabeth and Percy devoured the snacks in less than ten minutes, leaving only crumbs on the plate.

"Annabeth, your father called. He wants you back home in an hour," said Percy's mom.

"Okay, thank you Mrs. Jackson," Annabeth smiled as she started packing her books into her school bag.

Percy came running into the living room with a basketball tucked under his arm. "You want to go play some ball before you go?" he asked Annabeth. Annabeth smirked.

"Sure. But don't whine when you lose _again." _She taunted Percy while he just glared at her playfully.

"Is that a challenge?" Percy shot back.

"Oh, you bet it is, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said, earning another glare from Percy.

"Don't call me that, Wise Girl." Percy said. Although his cheeks warmed up whenever she called him that. Annabeth laughed, which made Percy smile.

"I really don't recall that an insult." Annabeth grinned and stripped the ball from Percy's arm when she ran for the door and out the apartment. Both of them were having fun on the basketball court. Percy would groan every time Annabeth made a shot into the basket and she would laugh. After a few minutes, they on the park bench near the basketball court. They talked and laugh like friends would. But sometimes Percy would just stop and look at Annabeth's grey eyes. Her eyes always amazed him. Percy could tell whatever Annabeth was feeling when he looked at her eyes. When she was happy, they would shine bright. When she was mad or sad, it looked like her eyes were clouded with dark storm clouds. Right now, there were bright and shined in the sunlight. Annabeth caught Percy staring and he instantly looked away in embarrassment. She just laughed and they continued to talk.

They were soon interrupted when Percy saw Luke coming their way. _Great, _Percy thought. Luke was an eighth grader, a year older than Annabeth and Percy. He had short, sand-bleached hair and was considered handsome to all the girls in the middle school. Percy turned away once Luke reached them.

"Hey, Annbeth." Luke said, smiling. Percy noticed Annabeth hesitate a bit and blush. Annabeth developed a little crush towards Luke ever since fourth grade. Percy knows that because they tell each other _everything. _Well at least Annabeth tell him everything. Percy hasn't told her what Luke does in school and how he's a complete jerk. He didn't ruin his friendship with Annabeth but he still didn't like the fact that Annabeth likes Luke.

"H-hey, Luke," she responded. Percy just rolled his eyes, which Luke saw in the corner of his eyes and it made him grin.

"What you guys doing?" Luke asked even though he didn't care. He just wanted to get on Percy's nerve, which it did.

Annabeth was about to speak but Percy answered for her. "We were just playing basketball and having a good time, until now." Percy sounded harsh at the last part and he earned glares from both Annabeth and Luke. But Luke decided to let it go.

"Mind if I join?" Luke asked with his attention on Annabeth only. Annabeth looked down, blushing.

"I, uh, was about to leave actually. My father wants me back home," Annabeth said while getting up to leave.

Luke grinned down at her. "I can walk you home if you like."

Annabeth looked up at him gratefully. "That'll be great." Then she turned to Percy was practically being invisible the whole time. "Want to come, Perce?" Although, she was secretly hoping for him to say no.

Percy felt hope until he took a glance at Luke who was giving him a _'I will get you tomorrow if you come' _look. Percy lost all his pride there and rejected the offer. "Uh, I can't. My mom is probably waiting for me at home." He lied.

Annabeth smiled gratefully at Percy and he couldn't help but smile back. "Oh, all right." She said. Luke and Annabeth started to walk together to her house and she looked back to wave to Percy. There was a slight ache in his heart but he pulled himself together to wave back. You see, Percy kind of likes Annabeth – more than a friend. Which is understandable. She was a pretty 12-year old. She had blonde curls like a princess and beautiful grey eyes. She looked pretty without makeup, which was another thing Percy liked about Annabeth. She never bothered to wear makeup. A lot of boys in school like Annabeth but never bothered to flirt with her. Annabeth was a tough girl in a innocent body. She could put any boy on the floor if she wanted to. So boys really didn't want to risk their dignity.

Percy continued to walk towards the apartment, thinking about Annabeth. Once he opened the door to his room, he plopped onto the bed and sighed in exhaustion. He drifted off into a sleep, thinking about his best friend, Annabeth.

* * *

Percy dragged himself out of bed the next morning. He took a glance at his alarm clock and saw that school started in half an hour. Percy immediately ran to the bathroom, rinsed his face, and brushed his teeth but didn't bother to brush his hair.

"Percy! Hurry up! We're running late!" He heard his mom yell from the living room. He took that note and quickly changed into a pair of shorts, a royal blue shirt, and a white jacket. He groaned in frustration as he tried to zip up his jacket but the zipper couldn't budge halfway. He was too much in a rush and left it that way. Percy quickly grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder forgetting to check if he had everything for school. He ran down and out of the apartment and into the parking lot. Percy's mom was also in a rush as she tried fixing her hair and putting on eyeliner using the review mirror to look at herself. Once Percy entered the passenger seat, his mom started the engine and drove off.

Fortunately, they only lived a few blocks away from his school so it only took a few minutes to get there. Arriving at the drop-off section, Percy's mom gave a quick kiss on his cheek and Percy groaned of embarrassment but luckily, everyone was already in class.

"Have a good day, Percy!" Sally yelled as she watched her son run into the school's entrance doors. Percy ran to his homeroom which was located at the west end of the school building. By the time he got to his class, he was already huffing and puffing. The class snickered when they saw Percy enter.

"And why are you late, Mr. Jackson?" asked Ms. Tune. Ms. Tune was Percy's advisory teacher and the English teacher for the seventh grade. She was a tall, skinny, and old lady. At 5'10", she towered her students, making her seem intimidating. Though, she slouched a bit when she stood up so it wasn't that scary. Her black hair hung right below her jaw line and she had a grey streak of hair hung on the left side of her head. Students never bothered to ask why she made her hair like that but it was kind of distracting. She wore square glasses and her famous flower printed long-sleeved shirt and long pants. Ms. Tune was considered mean and strict in the beginning of the year but her students soon grew on to her and realized that she was a pretty cool teacher. The only time she would be mean is when someone was acting up or late to class.

Percy gulped nervously knowing that Ms. Tune hated when kids were late and didn't have a note. "I, uh, woke up late." The whole class burst into fits of laughter.

"Well, Percy. Looks like you'll be getting home late too. One hour of detention after school." Ms. Tune said and the class continued laughing. She gestured for Percy to sit at the empty desk behind the class and so he did.

Percy sighed once he saw that he was sitting next to Grover. Other than Annabeth, Grover was Percy's best friend too. He was like a brother actually. Grover was a skinny kid with brown curly hair and a light brown tan. Grover had crutches because he was in a car accident when he was small and it cost him the use of his legs. People around school would use that against him and call him crippled or handicap but Grover got numb to the name calling and ignored it. He always wore a reggae-colored beanie and participated in any events involving environmental issues. That's one thing Percy liked about Grover. The other thing is that Grover was the one to get Percy out of trouble or try to convince him to change his mind whenever Percy wanted to do something mischievous. Grover was always there for Percy no matter what and vice versa.

"Sup, G-man," Percy greeted using Grover's nickname.

"Hey, Perce," Grover replied smiling. The rest of the period was study hall and Percy just rested his head on his table, staring at the clock. Once the bell rung signaling the end of class, Percy's head shot up. Him and Grover continued walking in the halls of school and bumped into another person.

"Hey, Nico," both Grover and Percy greeted the short boy. Nico Di Angelo was one of those shy, hidden in the shadows of the school kind of kid. He has dark curly hair that covered his eyes sometimes and pure black eyes. He had pale skin and always wore black clothes. Kids in school considered him an emo kid but truth was he wasn't emo. He liked to listen to heavy metal, though. But other than that, he was just a shy kid that hung his head down in school. Until he met Grover and Percy, he wasn't afraid to express his true self around them.

"Hey guys!" Nico said excitedly. Luckily, the three of them had the same classes together except elective. Grover had Spanish language, Nico had band, and Percy had Greek class. Percy took a liking into Greek mythology and for some reason; he could understand the language and read Greek without troubles.

The three friends continued their way to their first class, P.E. Percy mentally sighed because he knew that he was in the same period with Luke. Annabeth was also in the same P.E. period but they don't actually have the same classes together because boys and girls are separate. While they were walking to P.E., Percy noticed that Annabeth and Luke were walking together. Percy glared at Luke as he walked a little too close to Annabeth.

Percy heard Grover laugh.

"Is someone jealous?" Grover teased. Nico laughed too.

"What are you talking about?" Percy snorted.

"C'mon, Perce. You obviously like her." Nico said.

"No, I don't," Percy lied through gritted teeth.

"Don't lie, Percy. Just ask her out already!" Grover said.

"Like Percy has the guts to do that!" Nico joked. Percy just punched his two friends in the arm playfully.

"Oh yeah? Says the one who stares at Thalia all day," then Percy turned to Grover, "and the one who won't even talk to Juniper." That got Grover and Nico to shut up and Percy just smirked. Nico has a crush on this girl named Thalia Grace but she was an eighth grader so he didn't even bother to talk to her. Grover liked a girl named Juniper who was the same age as him. They met at a Global Warming meeting and he liked her since the first gecko. They continued their way to P.E. and after the period was over, they went to go shower in the locker rooms. The three boys hated showering after P.E. because that's when the eighth grade boys would be in the locker rooms too. So Nico and Grover decided to head to the next class and leave Percy to shower alone.

When Percy was changing back into his regular clothes, his face met the locker in front of him. Percy grunted and felt a hand wrapped around his neck.

"I need some money," he heard a familiar voice demand.

"Leave me alone, Luke." Percy said as he turned around to face the pretty boy that all the girls like.

"Or what? Is the freak going to run to his little girlfriend, Annabeth?" Luke teased.

"No. And she's not my girlfriend!" Percy exclaimed.

Luke smirked. "Good, because she'll be mine." Percy felt his anger boil up inside him but he couldn't do anything because Luke was like a beast to him. Luke looked down to the scrawny little kid with shaggy black hair and sea-green eyes. "Give me your money, freak." He demanded in a low voice.

"I don't have money, Luke." Percy said through gritted teeth. Luke examined Percy up and down.

"That's a shame," and then Luke's knees met Percy's stomach. Percy yelled in pain and clutched his stomach with his arms. Luke tossed Percy to the floor and rummaged through his bag to look for money. Luke grinned as he found Percy's wallet with a 20-dollar bill in it. He gave Percy a pat on the head. "Thanks, kiddo." He said while putting the money in his pocket and continued his way out of the locker room. Percy stayed on the locker room floor, in pain.

* * *

During recess, Percy walked through the hallways of school ignoring the looks of other students. Percy saw Luke outside with his friends, talking and laughing. He also noticed that Annabeth was by his side, laughing as well. See, Annabeth hung out with a lot of eighth graders at school. Percy thought she didn't really hang out with him because he was kind of the underdog in school. That was part of Annabeth's reason but Annabeth hung out with them only because she liked Luke. Percy continued to walk towards Luke and yelled his name when he was close enough.

"Luke!" Percy yelled out. Luke turned around and his face came in contact with Percy's fist. Annabeth gasped in surprise and his friends caught Luke before he could meet the ground. "Give me back my money, Luke." Percy demanded.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Percy?" Annabeth yelled at Percy.

"He took my money. I just want it back." Percy said holding out his hand.

Luke pouted but Percy knew it was all an act. Once Luke stood up, he shoved Percy back. Annabeth didn't even bother to help Percy. Percy looked at her but she refused to look at him. "What are you talking about?"

"My money. Give it back." Percy demanded and pointed to Luke's pocket.

"Luke, just give him his money back." Annabeth pleaded. Luke just looked at her.

"I didn't take anything, I promise." Luke said in a sincere voice. It didn't convince Percy but it did convince Annabeth.

"Oh really? Check your pockets then." Percy said.

Luke reached into his pockets and pulled it out. Nothing fell out and he looked up at Percy. "I told you." Percy looked at Luke like he was crazy. He could've sworn he saw Luke put the money in his pocket.

"I swear he-" Percy started but Annabeth interrupted.

"Just go, Percy." She said simply and avoided eye contact.

"He took my money!" Percy yelled again, shocked that Annabeth was defending Luke.

"He doesn't have it!" Annabeth yelled back. Percy saw that Luke was watching with a grin on his face and amusement filled his eyes. Percy took a glance at Annabeth and saw that her eyes were clouded with darkness. She was mad, he thought. Percy was too angry to argue anymore so he just stepped away like a coward and walked to his next class. Annabeth felt bad for snapping at him like that but mad that he accused Luke for doing such thing.

The rest of the day was spent ignoring each other. Even if Greek class, Percy sat on the opposite end of Annabeth. He was too ashamed and angry to sit by her, which only made Annabeth hurt a little. Percy noticed but he was still mad that she backed up Luke earlier. It hurt to see Annabeth hurt but he ignored it.

At the end of the school day, Nico, Grover, and Percy said their farewells to each other. Percy sat by a nearby tree and waited for his mom to come pick him up. While waiting, he felt some one sit by him.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said while nudging him on the shoulder.

Percy avoided eye contact with her because he knew that once he saw her eyes, he would forget what she did to her. But Percy didn't want her to feel that he was mad at her so he gave her a slight nod to acknowledge her presence.

Annabeth sighed. "Look, about Luke – " Percy didn't feel like talking about this right now.

"Forget about it." Percy said. Annabeth looked at him with concern.

"I can't forget about it if you won't apologize for what you've done." Annabeth said.

"I'm not sorry for what I did. He deserved it." Percy said in monotone. Annabeth was getting mad at Percy arrogance.

"Stop being so immature, Percy! Just grow up!" Annabeth snapped. "He didn't steal your stupid money. Get over it!"

Percy, not wanting to even argue with his best friend, lost it. "I don't get why you're defending him! He's a jerk!" He snapped too.

Annabeth couldn't accept that fact because Luke always acts innocent around her. "Percy, he's not a jerk." She said calming herself.

Percy sighed and knew that she wouldn't believe him. He gave up on the conversation. "You believe what you want to believe, Annabeth. I'm just stating the truth." But before Annabeth could protest, Percy got up and started to walk home. It was a long walk, but he couldn't handle fighting with Annabeth. Annabeth watched him as he walked across the street, not knowing that when he got home, he would receive terrible news from his mother.

* * *

**Well, that's this chapter. I got so bored today and decided to do another story. If you guys didn't read my other one, go to my profile and it's called Life After War: Curse. So review what you think about this chapter. Favorite, subscribe, or whatever tickles your pickle! **

**-Breana**


	2. Breaking the News

_Breaking the News_

* * *

Percy continued walking home with loads on his mind. He felt terrible about today and how he ignored his best friend. But he couldn't help but ignore her. He was mad that Annabeth defended Luke and didn't believe him when he told her that Luke stole his money. Percy was starting to doubt their friendship. All Percy has been to Annabeth was a friend and just a friend. Nothing more, nothing less. Or that's what Percy thought. He started to think that maybe he was something less. Maybe the only reason Annabeth hung out with him was because she felt bad for him. Percy was the least popular in school after all. On the first day of middle school, he got shoved into lockers and called "dumb" by the other students. But Annabeth was always there throwing back insults. The number of kids picking on Percy decreased ever since Annabeth hung out with him. Percy was grateful for that fact, but wondered if maybe that's the only reason why she even hung out with him. Maybe it was just because she felt sympathetic towards him.

As Percy was walking home, he passed by a convenient store. On the display window, there were posters of deals for women hygiene items. One poster instantly brought him back to his best childhood memory – when he met Annabeth.

"Percy, enough with sword fighting and help me prepare for dinner!" Percy's mom called out from the kitchen.

"Okay, Mommy!" 6-year old Percy called back. He brought his plastic sword up and jabbed it into his enemy. "Take that, Minotaur!" Percy yelled as he sliced off the monster's "head", which was a pillow that had two pointed snow-cone cups taped onto it with a beat's face drawn onto it with a brown marker. Little Percy picked up the pillow, or "head" in his case, and held it up triumphantly. "Percy Jackson, hero of all heroes!" He said trying to use a low voice. After a few moments of the little hero praising himself, he ran down to help his mother.

Percy entered the kitchen and took a good look around. The air smelt like roast chicken. _Yum, _Percy thought. Then he spotted his mother in an apron who was stressing to set the dinner table. Percy stood in the doorway, watching his mother in amusement as she tried to separate the napkins. Sally felt tiny pair of eyes observe her and she noticed her son watching her.

"Well, are you going to stand there or help me out?" Sally asked her son. Percy laughed and ran to his mother to take the napkins from her hand. His mom then went back into the kitchen to check up on the food in the oven. "What were you even doing in there, Percy?"

Percy's eyes lit up with excitement as he was about to tell his mom. "I defeated the evil Minotaur and became the all mighty Percy Jackson!" He shouted with such pride and curled his arms, making believe he had huge biceps.

Sally smiled down at her son and picked him up in her arms. "Well, the 'all mighty Percy Jackson' needs to go get ready before the neighbors come over for dinner." She said while pinching the nose of Percy playfully. Percy giggled and ran to his room. He dressed himself into simple shorts and white t-shirt. He also threw on a blue and white flannel that he got for Christmas last year. He went to go brush his teeth, and didn't bother to brush his hair.

When he ran back down to the kitchen, the dining table was already set where the crispy brown chicken lay in the middle. Percy could feel his stomach growl, ready to devour it. Sally saw the look in Percy's eyes and gave him a warning look. Percy smiled innocently.

"You stay here while I get ready. Do not touch anything, understood?" Sally slowly and hesitantly instructed her grinning son. Percy understood clearly what she was saying but continued to smirk evilly like he had something mischievous up his sleeve. Sally sighed and continued to her room to get ready. Percy waited on the living room couch, swinging his legs so that his heels hit the bottom of the couch some times. He couldn't sit any longer because his ADHD started to take over him. Percy saw a box under the cabinet and it caught his attention.

Percy started towards the cabinet and grabbed the mysterious box. It was labeled something but because of Percy being dyslexic, he couldn't make up what it said. After a few minutes of constant frustration, Percy finally saw what the label said. It spelt T-A-M-P-O-N-S. _What's this? _Thought Percy. Being the curious little kid, he opened the box and saw a bunch of tiny wrapped items in there. He took one package, carefully examining it. Percy started tearing open the package and out came the item. It fell on Percy's lap. It was a tiny item that had a hard-plastic surrounding it with a string hanging below. Percy studied the strange item in his hand and there were little pictures printed on the hard part. One picture showed a finger pushing the bottom, where the string was located, up out of the hard-plastic covering.

Percy then put his finger on the bottom of the item and gave it a good shove upward. _Pop! _That's the noise the item made when a cotton-like material emerged the plastic covering. Percy drew back in surprise but laughed as soon as he came up with a brilliant idea. Percy grabbed a couple of the mysterious items and opened them.

As he was doing this, the front door of his house rung. "I'm coming!" yelled Percy's mom from her room. Percy's mom soon came rushing to the front door, not even noticing what her son was up to. She answered the door and greeted a tall man with a small girl next to her. "Welcome, come in, Mr. Chase!" Percy heard his mom greet the neighbors.

"Thank you for having us come over," said the man. Sally Jackson smiled sweetly at him and guided both of them towards the dining room.

"Percy, our guests are here. Come here, baby," Percy's mom called from the dining room. Six year old Percy smiled as he was excited to show his mom and the neighbors his new look. "Fedrick and Annbeth, I'd like you to meet my son, P-", Percy entered the dining hall with a grin. "Percy Jackson!" Percy's mom almost shouted as she saw her son. The two strangers held back a laugh. Percy examined both of them. There was a man a black tux and he had black hair with brown eyes. Sitting next to him was a girl that looked the same age as Percy. She looked nothing like the man sitting next to her. She had blonde, curly hair and grey eyes. The girl caught Percy staring at her and instantly shot a glare at him. He looked away and look towards his mother who looked like she was about to die of laughter.

_Why are they looking at me like that? _Percy thought to himself. To Percy, he thought he looked awesome with the two "_tampons_" up his nose making it look like his nose were puffed up. But to his mother and strangers, he looked like a complete fool. They all couldn't handle it and started to laugh their heads off. Percy stared at the three of them confused.

Sally got up from the dinner table and grabbed Percy in her arms. She carried him to the kitchen where she grabbed the two strings hanging from his nostrils and pulled down. The cotton material emerged from his nose, making Percy sneeze. Sally laughed.

"Bless you, sweety. And please don't go through mommy's things, okay?" She said in a bit serious tone. Percy nodded innocently, still confused at what that item was and why they were all laughing at him. His face showed the confusion and his mom just laughed again. She kissed him on the forehead and said, "Let's go eat."

Percy didn't argue with that and ran to the dining room. He took a seat across the girl that was now his neighbor. Sally accompanied her son's side and sat down. "Percy I'd like you to meet Fredrick Chase, but call him Mr. Chase." His mom introduced while gesturing to the man in the black suit. Then she gestured towards the blonde-headed girl that Percy was staring at earlier. "And this is his daughter, Annabeth Chase." She smiled sweetly and the both of them but slightly glared at Percy. No one noticed but Percy.

After they were finished eating, Percy's mom told Percy to go show Annabeth around the house. Percy was nervous by the fact that he was taking a strange, scary girl to look around the house by himself but agreed. Annabeth stood a distance between herself and Percy as he walked around the house, pointing out each room. It was until they both reached Percy's room.

"And saving the best for last, my room!" Percy grinned as he kicked open his door, only for Annabeth to be drawn back by the mess of this boy's room. Clothes were scattered everywhere and toys piled up at the corner. Other than the mess, she thought the room looked pretty good. The walls were painted with an ocean blue and pictures of sharks, octopuses, and other sea creatures were displayed in the painting. The room even smelt like the salty-ocean air. It was amazing how much this room felt like actually being underwater.

Annabeth did notice a white pillow with two snow cone cups taped to it that hung from the ceiling. "What's that?" Annabeth asked pointing to the pillow.

Percy grinned at climbed his bed to jump up and grab the pillow. "This." He held the pillow with pride. "This is the head of the Minotaur that I, hero of all heroes, killed." Percy shouted with confidence.

Annabeth bit her tongue to hold in a laugh but looked at Percy confused. "Minotaur? The half-man, half-bull guy in the legends?" She asked.

Percy looked down at the girl. "You know him?" he asked, stunned.

"Well, I heard of him in this book I read about Greek mythology," Annabeth explained. Percy was surprised that she could even read, let alone pronounce the word mythology. _Nerd, _Percy thought to himself. "Actually, I have it right here." Annabeth dug into her bag to take out a pretty thick book. On the cover was a picture of three statues. And the title was written in some strange language. Percy looked at the title, and he saw the symbols mix up and move around.

"The Legends of Greek?" Percy asked Annabeth. Annabeth looked up at the sea-green eyed boy with shock. She thought she was the only one that could read Greek.

"You can read Greek?" Annabeth asked clearly surprised.

Percy shrugged, "Open up the book and let's see." He plopped next to Annabeth and they both leaned back onto the side of the bed. Together, they read the thick book written all in Greek text. It was nice for Annabeth to meet a boy that could understand Greek like she did. This way, she didn't feel lonely and a freak. Percy thought it was awesome to have someone who knew about Greek monsters like he did.

So that's how their friendship developed. Percy admitted that it wasn't the greatest first impression that someone had on him but that was their little secret. Every day since then, Annabeth would come over to Percy's house and talk about other Greek things. Sometimes, they would have a fake sword fight and Percy was surprised that he found some one that actually beat him. After a while, Annabeth started calling Percy by his nickname, Seaweed Brain, because one day while they were sword fighting, Percy fell back and a bunch of green material fell on his head. It reminded Annabeth of seaweed and since Percy wasn't the smartest in the world, she came up with the name. And Percy being Percy, the best he came up with was Wise Girl. This was because she was very smart and intelligent at a young age.

But like any other friendship, no matter how awesome it was, middle school was always the years when certain obstacles stumble the two. Percy sighed as he walked past the convenient store as the good memories only made him feel bad for his actions today.

* * *

Once Percy got home, he was greeted by his mother from the living room. "Hey, sweetheart," Sally said once Percy entered the living room. There was a slight cracking in her voice, which Percy noticed. Percy sat by his mother.

"Hey, mom. What's up?" Percy said, not knowing that his mom was about to tell him something that would change his life.

"I got the job," Sally said trying to sound happy.

"That's awesome!" Percy said happily. He knew his mom was trying out for a spot in an ocean-life program that helped take care of marine life. After years of applications and emails, she finally got the spot and Percy was excited for his mother. But Sally didn't look as happy as Percy expected. "What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"Baby . . ." Sally continued and her voice felt dry when trying to tell Percy the bad news. Percy just waited for his mother to say whatever she had to say. Sally took a deep inhale in and exhaled, "The position is in Hawaii."

Now Percy understood why his mom looked so sad. He didn't know what to feel. Was he to be happy for her that she got her dream job, or disappointed that the job is located thousands of miles away? Percy was unable to speak.

"I'm sorry, hun. I just really need this job and the money to pay off the expenses," she tried reasoning with her son. But he kept quiet, still trying to figure out what to feel at his mother's news. To make things worse, Sally continued on. "We'll be gone for four years."

Now Percy knew what he felt. He felt disappointed that she got the job, but he knew it was selfish to think that way. "Four years?" He asked in shock. Sally just slowly nodded.

She didn't know what else to say to her son. She knew that he would react this way but she couldn't handle the thought seeing her son like this. Sally really needed the job. It had great benefits, and offered her more than enough money to pay off the rents for the apartment. To see Percy hurt, made Sally's heart ache. Maybe taking the job was a bad idea.

"Maybe I shouldn't –" Sally started but Percy knew what she was going to say. He didn't want his mom to turn down a huge opportunity because her son was being selfish. But the thought of leaving his life at New York only made him hurt more. Leaving Grover, Nico, and Annabeth? But then he thought of all the hardships he's gone through in the past few years. There's Luke and Annabeth drama, and the constant harassment of other students. Grover and Nico can take care of themselves for four years. Maybe moving would give Percy a brand new start to life.

"I'm happy for you, mom," he stated. "And this is Hawaii we're talking about. Hawaii – the paradise islands." I said, trying my best to sound happy about moving. Percy kind of like the thought of going to Hawaii but he always thought of going there for a vacation and not ditching his life for. Sally looked at her son in happiness. Then she hugged her son.

"Thank you so much, Percy."

Percy patted her mom on the back. "When do we leave?" He managed to choke out.

"At the end of your school year. I decided to give you some time to have fun with your friends, and other stuff." She said and Percy didn't know what she meant by other stuff. The end of the school year was a few months from now. It was long, but considering all the things he wanted to do with his best friends, it seemed short. And also, telling them the news would be hard for both them and Percy.

Percy sighed, got up, and went to his room to rest his head. Sally let his son go, knowing that the news was a bit too much for one day. And it was true; having a fight with Annabeth, ignoring her, and finding out that he's moving thousands of miles away to a tiny island for four years, it was all too much for a young 12-year old to take in one day. With his mind full of exhaustion, he drifted off into a troubled sleep.

* * *

The next day in school was hard for Percy to get through. There was so much on his mind and it was too much for a young boy like him to handle. Every day he would walk through the school halls with his head hung low and every now and then be shoved into the wall or lockers by other students. There was no Annabeth this time to back him up. She was too busy hanging out with Luke, Thalia, and the others. Grover and Nico would always come to Percy's side but they did notice how Percy was acting a little strange.

"Hey, Percy," Grover greeted one day during lunch. They both were already graving their lunches from the lunch line and heading towards their table in the back where Nico was already sitting.

"Sup, G-man," Percy greeted back.

"So, I couldn't help but notice that you've been acting strange for the past couple of weeks," Grover started slowly, "Is something up?"

What does Percy say? Is now the right time to tell his best friend that he's moving thousands of miles away or just wait more? Maybe now wasn't the best time. Percy forced a smile upon his face, "Nope, I'm fine." But Grover knew Percy too well and knew he was lying. Then they took their seat at the lunch table.

"C'mon, Percy. I know when you lie, what's wrong?" Grover asked with a bit more concern in his voice. Grover never saw his best friend like this so it bothered him. Not to mention Nico now in involved, Percy knew that it would be best for both of them to know at the same time.

_How do I tell them? Ok, relax Percy, just let it go easy and smooth. No, make it sudden so you can just get it over with. Shut up! No, you have to go light with them. _Percy's mind fought with itself to figure out how to break the news to Nico and Grover.

"So, uh, you know that job my mom was applying for?" Percy asked his friends. They both nodded knowing how Percy's mom been trying out for a major position in an ocean life company. But what they didn't know is that the position is located in Hawaii. "W-well she got it . . ." Percy said slowly.

Grover and Nico's eyes lit up. "That's great!"

"Yeah, i-it is." Percy said.

"So what's the problem then?" Nico asked Percy. So that's the real question to ask. _Well, Nico, the job is located in Hawaii. _

"Well, uh, the job position is located in, um, H-Hawaii," Percy said, waiting for their friends to freak out. But they didn't quit react the way he expected.

"Woah, Hawaii?" Grover almost yelled. "That's awesome! I'd like to go there too."

"Yeah, Perce. I mean, spend a whole summer there! That's amazing," Nico added. Percy sighed, knowing that his friends didn't know how long the job position lasted.

"Uh, guys – " Percy got interrupted.

"There's going to be some hot Hawaiian babes," Nico stated dreamily.

Grover looked at Nico skeptically. "I heard the air over there is so clean," Grover also said dreamily.

"The job lasts for four years," Percy blurted out. Nico and Grover stopped their daydreaming and looked at Percy like he was the craziest person on earth. "Surprise?" That's all Percy could say. The look on Grover and Nico's face hurt Percy. Grover and Nico didn't know what to feel. Were the supposed to feel happy for Percy's mom or sad that their only best friend in school is leaving for four years?

"Well . . . that's great," Grover said a bit enthusiastic for the sake of Percy.

"What are you talking about?" Nico stood up, "This is horrible! My best friend is leaving!" Everyone's attention shifted to the three seventh graders in the back. Nico didn't mind though. "How could you do this to me, Percy?" Nico yelled. Grover cleared his throat and tugged on Nico's arm.

"Dude, get down," Grover mumbled. Percy stayed quiet, however. He looked around the cafeteria and saw everyone looking back with confusion and amusement in their eyes. He got a glimpse at Annabeth, four tables away. She looked at him with concern. _What's he talking about? _She mouthed to Percy and it took him a while to figure out what she said.

Percy replied by putting his pointing his finger towards his ear and moving it in circles. That's the sign language of _crazy_. But Annabeth just looked at Percy, knowing that he was lying. She could see it in his sea green eyes. They weren't their normal clear, green color like it would be whenever he's happy or around Annabeth. Annabeth would notice that whenever she hung around him and sometimes it caught Annabeth's attention. But in the situation they were in now, his eyes seemed darker than usual. She knew that there was something up with Percy and she had to find out.

After the whole scene that Nico made, Grover dragged him out of the cafeteria, leaving Percy alone at the table. Annabeth decided to get up from her table, leaving Luke and Thalia by themselves, and go to Percy. Percy didn't notice because he was too busy thinking about what just happened. Annabeth took a seat next to Percy. Everyone in the cafeteria noticed but Annabeth didn't give a damn what everyone thought of their friendship. Thalia looked at the two in amusement while Luke just glared at Percy.

"What was that?" Annabeth whispered to Percy, who now noticed that she was sitting next to him. He avoided eye contact with her and was trying to come up with an excuse. With all that's happened between Percy and Annabeth in the past few weeks was horrible. They barely even talked or hung out. This was probably the first time in a long time that Annabeth came up to talk to Percy in public. Percy thought that if he told her the truth, she would just be even madder at him and become more distant than they already are.

"I accidently l-lost Nico's – uh – _Kiss_ CD," Percy started. "Then I told him the truth and he lost it." _Good one, Percy_, he thought to himself. Annabeth looked at her best friend skeptically, knowing that Percy was lying, but she didn't bother to ask again. Annabeth knew that she hasn't been the best of friends lately towards Percy. But she knew Luke and Thalia better than she knew Percy. The three of them met when Annabeth first learned how to walk – which was a very young age. Annabeth looked up to the two of them like brother and sister. And since she didn't really hang out with them during elementary, she thought middle school would be a great year to do so. She sighed and turned to Percy.

"Okay, Seaweed Brain. How about I come over to your house today after school? We both need each other's help for the socials project that's due on Friday," Annabeth said. Maybe spending a little time with Percy would give him a chance to tell Annabeth the truth and regain the weeks they lost together. And they do need a little of each other's help on the project about the Civil War as well.

"Sure," Percy accepted with a smile that he couldn't help but wear.

"Awesome. See you after school then," Annabeth smiled and got up to leave but gave a playful punch on his arm. Percy rubbed his arm and stuck his tongue out at Annabeth while she just laughed.

Percy was stoked to hang out with Annabeth after school. His day went on better knowing that but he still didn't get a hold of Nico. He ignored it and thought that maybe the both of them can enjoy each other's company later.

* * *

When Percy arrived home, he rushed to his room to get ready for Annabeth coming over. Sally just laughed as she saw her son look so excited for something she didn't know. Percy ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and again not bothering to brush his hair. He stripped his clothes and jumped into a pair of jeans and a sky-blue hoodie. Then he took out a can of Axe that his mom gave to him before the school year and sprayed a little on him. He didn't bother to put it on every day because he hated the smell of it. But this is Annabeth we're talking about, so he managed to get used to it. Percy didn't know why he was getting all excited for, but it's been a while since she actually came over his house so minus well look and smell good.

The door bell rung and he heard his mom call out, "I'll get it!" Percy's head shot up and he darted out of his room to go to the front door. He slightly pushed his mom away and she just laughed at how Percy was trying to look good for some one.

Percy cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his hair. Then he twisted the doorknob to open the door to his best friend, Annabeth. He smiled, "Welcome." He made sure to make his voice a bit lower than usual but Annabeth just laughed.

"May I come in, sir?" Annabeth asked, playing along. Percy stepped out of the way and gave a slight bow. Annabeth laughed and walked in, and ruffled Percy's hair with her hand. Percy groaned in annoyance.

"Oh, be quiet, Percy. It's not like your hair is neat," Annabeth teased. Percy groaned again, knowing that she was right. "Well, Seaweed Brain, let's get to study –" She smelt something strong and unbearable to her nose. "Are you wearing cologne?" Annabeth asked Percy while she pinched her nose to block out the stench.

"Uh, yeah," Percy said.

Annabeth held in a laugh, knowing that Percy would only put on that stuff for special occasions. "Cool off on it just a little next time," Annabeth suggested. Percy nodded.

During the study session, Percy explained all the weapons that were used in the war because that's what knew best about. Annabeth explained all the events and the important people in the Civil War. Sometimes when she was explaining, Percy would look at her and think of how much he's going to miss her when he leaves. And sometimes when Percy was talking, Annabeth would take a good look at Percy and how his eyes lit up. She couldn't help but tell that he did look a little good with his jacket emphasizing his eye color and messy black hair go all over the place.

An hour into their session, Percy's mom called out. "Hey, Percy, make sure you start packing your clothes!" Sally didn't know that Percy didn't tell Annabeth the news. Percy froze at his mom's words. Annabeth looked at Percy.

"Are you going to go on a vacation during summer?" Annabeth asked Percy who still looked pale.

"Uh –" _What now, Percy? _He thought. To make it all worse, Percy's mom called out again.

"And make sure you get all your things cleared in your classes before we leave! I don't want paperwork being mailed to us!"

Annabeth looked at Percy again. "What's she talking about?"

"Look – um –" Percy started, but then again, Percy's mom interrupted. This time she walked into the living room where Annabeth and Percy sat on the couch with a bunch of text books open.

"Hey, Annabeth," Sally greeted the grey-eyed girl with a smile.

"Hey, Ms. Jackson," Annabeth smiled back. Since Percy looked like he wasn't going to tell Annabeth the truth, she decided to ask Sally. "What do you mean Percy has to clear his work? Are you guys going on a vacation?"

Sally looked at her in confusion. "Percy didn't tell you?" Annabeth looked at Percy, who was now looking at his mother with a '_not now'_ expression on his face. Sally caught on to the situation that her son was in and just said, "Oh. Well, I'll let you two do what you have to do." Then she left to go in the kitchen.

Percy stayed quiet but Annabeth just looked at him. "What do you have to tell me, Percy?" She was worried now. She noticed how Percy was acting strange for a few weeks but thought it was some puberty stage he was going through. But was this what has been bothering him? She stood correct.

"We're – um – moving." Percy told his shocked best friend.

* * *

**So I've been told that Annabeth was a little OOC, which I do agree with. While I was writing the first chapter, I could tell that she being a little out of it. But I'll TRY to get her back to her normal state, but it'll be kind of hard when I've already published this story. So thanks for letting me know that! **

**Next, some of you might question why I chose Hawaii as Sally's job location. Well, I'm from Hawaii so it will be easier for me to describe the place and people. So that's that reason. **

**Also, you guys are so damn awesome. So my fanfic is hooked up to my email and my email is hooked up to my iPhone. So everytime some one favorites, reviews, or subscribes, my phone does a little vibrate. And last night, all I could hear was BZZ, BZZ, BZZ, BZZ, like a billion times. You would expect me to be annoyed but I'm not. It lets me know that people are actually reading my crap and it makes me smile(: So THANK YOU to all of you who made my phone go off last night. You guys are awesome. Keep it up though! Subscribe, Favorite, and REVIEW, (or whatever tickles your pickle)**

**- Breana**


	3. Goodbye New York

_Goodbye New York_

* * *

Percy took a glance at his calendar. He noticed the box with a red circle around it was two boxes away from today's date. The box with the red circle around it marked the day he was leaving New York. _Two more days of my life in New York_, he thought.

Annabeth sat on Percy's bed, back against the headboard and hugging her knees, watching him pack his clothes into a black suitcase. Her eyes followed every moment that Percy made; when he folded his shirt and shoved it into the black empty hole of the bag. Every piece of clothing that he packed only made Annabeth feel more hurt and guilty for how she's been treating him over the year. She wanted to get up from the bed and stop Percy from packing his things up and leaving her. But instead she sat on his bed, watching him.

Percy could feel Annabeth watching him. And it hurt him to see that she was sad but he couldn't do anything about it. He wanted to comfort her, hug her, or whatever it took to cheer her up. But instead he kept packing his clothes.

The silence and intensity of the atmosphere disappeared when Percy's mother walked into the room.

"Percy, make sure you – " Sally stopped when she saw the sight in front of her. She could literally feel her heart shatter into pieces as Annabeth stared at her son with a blank expression and her son shoving his clothes into the bag. _This _was her worst nightmare; seeing her child so sad. Sally took in a deep breath, "– make sure you check with the principle tomorrow to get your paperwork."

Percy didn't even bother to respond so Sally left the room leaving Annabeth and Percy alone again. After he was finished packing one of his suitcases, he took a seat at the edge of the bed, back facing Annabeth. Percy sighed, hating the awkwardness in his room. He took a good look around. The walls were painted with a deep-sea ocean blue. The mess that was scattered all over the floor was now gone and clean, showing the white carpet underneath. Against the walls were boxes containing Percy's things that will soon be shipped to his new home in Hawaii.

He was going to miss all this. While Percy and his mom are gone, another family will be renting the apartment. It made him sad that another boy or girl will be using his room as their own. Percy's thoughts were interrupted when a hand was placed on his shoulder. Percy turned his head around to see who the hand belonged too.

Annabeth gave Percy a half-hearted smile, reassuring him that she was there for him. Percy returned the same kind of smile.

"I should go," Annabeth said with her voice slightly cracking.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, your dad is probably worried for you," he replied, noticing that the sky was getting pretty dark. Annabeth gave another squeeze on his shoulder before leaving his room to go home.

Percy went face first into the soft pillow once Annabeth left the room. Usually a kid is supposed to be excited for the last day of school, but it wasn't for Percy because the last day of school is his last whole day in New York. And like the other nights since he found out that he's moving, Percy drifted into a trouble-some sleep.

* * *

The next day came slowly to Percy. It surprised Grover and Nico how Percy didn't even look like something was wrong. He wore a smile up on his face and walked confidently in the school's hallway. It kind of creeped both Nico and Grover.

But during lunch, Nico couldn't stand it. "What's wrong with you?" Nico almost yelled at Percy. Percy looked at the olive-skinned boy confusingly. "How could you be so calm and happy when you're taking off on a plane to a place a thousand miles from here tomorrow?" Nico had a take a deep breath after saying that. Percy's face fell a little when Nico mentioned it but shook it after right after.

Grover looked at Nico. "Dude, seriously?"

"Well, it's true!" Nico yelled.

"You're not helping," Grover argued.

Nico was about to protest but Percy cut in. "Guys, stop. Don't ruin my day when everything was just about to feel normal again."

Nico back down and Grover pouted a little but they both shut up.

"Sorry," Nico mumbled. Percy looked towards Luke's table – where Annabeth usually sat during lunch – and noticed that she wasn't there. Thalia caught Percy's eyes lingering her lunch table and then they locked eyes. She gave Percy a slight shrug, knowing that he was wondering where Annabeth was. Thalia and Percy aren't close friends, but they get a long pretty well. Annabeth introduced him to her in the beginning of the school year and, well, they didn't agree with each other at first. But Thalia realized that he was a kind kid afterwards and Percy realized she was a pretty cool girl. Also, Thalia knows that Percy likes Annabeth, so she had to be friends with the kid anyways.

After lunch, the three friends split up to go to their electives. Percy went on his way to Greek class. When entering, he noticed Annabeth already sitting at her table with her iPhone and laptop out. Annabeth's laptop was like her baby, she got it from an uncle who was a great inventor. Percy cocked his head to the side, wondering what his best friend was up to. Considering there were ten minutes left until class started, he decided to join her.

"What are you up to, Wise Girl?" Percy asked while leaning over Annabeth's shoulder to look at her laptop screen. There were a bunch of windows open and a lot of things going on in the screen, it made Percy dizzy.

"Hold up," Annabeth said. She was in focus mode. Her hair was put up into a messy ponytail and her eyebrows were scrunched up. Once and a while she'd look at her phone and then look at her laptop screen.

Percy laughed at how focus Annabeth was. He decided to ruin it by ruffling up her hair. Annabeth turned around and glared daggers at Percy. He laughed again.

"You should see your face," Percy said in between laughs.

Annabeth wasn't in the mood for Percy's immaturity and punched him in the gut – hard. Percy groaned causing Annabeth to have a smug smile upon her face. She turned back around to finish up whatever she was working on.

Percy, who was clutching his stomach, lifted up his short, exposing his bruised stomach. The bruise wasn't from Annabeth, but it was from Luke. It was a circle with a purple color ringing it. He didn't bother to ice it or anything because he was afraid his mom would catch him and become a worried-sick mother. But Annabeth just had to punch him in the exact spot, making it worse. Percy poked the bruise, flinching a little when feeling it throb.

"Finally, done!" Annabeth sighed and turned back around. Percy immediately put his shirt down but Annabeth noticed. "What was that?"

"N-nothing. So, what's that you're working on?" Percy said trying to sound casual.

Annabeth ignored his question and took Percy's shirt into her hands.

"What are you doing?" Percy tried stopping Annabeth's hands from lifting his shirt.

But Annabeth was stronger than Percy, unfortunately. She lifted his shirt, exposing the large round bruise located in the middle of his abdomen.

Annabeth gasped, "Hell, Seaweed Brain, I'm so sorry!" But then she examined the bruise. It looked like it was given to him way before Annabeth had punched him. "What the hell, Percy? Who gave this to you?" She was starting to sound protective over Percy.

Percy knew that she wouldn't believe him if he told her it was Luke that gave him the bruise. So he lied for her sake, "No one. I ran into a railing the other day."

Annabeth looked at Percy skeptically. Normally she would know if he's lying, but Percy being such a Seaweed Brain, it's possible that he could to such thing. Annabeth gave a good chuckle at his clumsiness but went back to concern mode. "You better get that checked."

"Yeah, yeah, Wise Girl," Percy rolled his eyes while putting his shirt down. "So, what's this you've been stressing over?" He asked gesturing to the phone and computer.

Annabeth grinned down at it and grabbed her grey-cased iPhone. "I created a new app for you and I to use when you're gone. Give me your phone."

Percy searched his pockets for his iPhone with a blue case around it and gave it to Annabeth. She plugged it into her laptop and pressed a few buttons. After a few minutes, she took it off the cord and gave it back to Percy. He was just watching her the whole time, not knowing what the hell she was up to.

Then Annabeth held her iPhone up and spoke into it. "O Iris, Goddess of Rainbows, show me Percy Jackson."

There was a little shimmer sound that came from both their phones and a _click_. Percy looked at his screen and saw Annabeth on top.

"Woah, cool," was all Percy could say at the new app. It was a video chat app, except only Percy and Annabeth had it for themselves. "Wait, Iris? Really?" he grinned.

Annabeth shrugged, "We're Greek freaks, so minus well. But you have to say that sentence and my name if you want to chat with me. Figured it'll be a good way for us to keep in contact while you're in Hawaii."

"Wow, thanks, Wise Girl." Percy hugged Annabeth. But before she could respond, he decided to comment on her. "You're such a nerd."

Annabeth scoffed and gave another punch on his shoulder – hard.

"Ow," Percy whined. "Why so violent?"

"Oh suck it up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth retorted while closing her laptop. Then the bell rung, warning that class started in five minutes. Percy took a seat next to Annabeth and the rest of the students started to come.

Mr. Brunner entered into the class in his wheelchair. Mr. Brunner was the Greek class teacher and a good one at it. He had long, wavy hair that reached the bottom of his neck and a trimmed beard. No one knows how or why he is in a wheel chair, but he would tell weird stories about monsters attacking him. He was basically considered a nut-job in school but was a very wise man when teaching Greek mythology. He actually ran his own camp called "Camp Half-Blood" and it was a camp for dyslexic or ADHD kids.

"All right, students," Mr, Brunner started, "Since today is the last day of school, we'll go around the class and everyone will say one important thing they learned this year."

Each student explained their thought to the classroom. Some passed, not knowing what they learned. The next person was Annabeth. She stood up and cleared her throat.

"Well, I learned that . . . " then she trailed off into something about math and science and everything else she thought was important. She almost put the whole class to sleep with her outcome of thoughts. After a few and long minutes, she concluded her speech. " – and that's some of the important things I learned this year."

The whole class gave weak claps and it was Percy's turn.

"Well, I don't know much to say after that," Percy joked and the class laughed. Annabeth shot a glare at Percy. "Kidding," he said flashing a lop-sided grin at her. Percy thought for a moment of what he learned this year, and then he started to think about what he's been going through for the past few weeks. "One important thing that I learned this year was," he paused, "well, to live everyday like it was your last. Do what you want to do and don't hesitate because tomorrow isn't promised to you. One day, you may just find out that you're moving thousands of miles away." Percy stopped himself before he could get all emotional in front of his peers. Annabeth looked up at him with sorrow. "So, yeah. Live life to the fullest."

The class laughed as his cliché quote. Mr. Brunner looked at Percy while he sat down. Annabeth glanced at Percy, noticing the sadden expression on his face. Soon, everyone took their turn in the class discussion and the bell rang.

"All right, class, thank you for sharing today. Have a great summer!" Mr. Brunner announced. Percy got up from his desk and headed towards the door, but Mr. Brunner called out to him. "Percy, can I see you for a minute?"

At first, Percy felt nervous, like he did something wrong. But hearing the secureness in Mr. Brunner's voice calmed his nerves.

"Yes, sir?" Percy asked after he arrived at the front of the desk.

"Perseus Jackson," Mr. Brunner started. Percy flinched at the mention of his full name and Mr. Brunner just continued. "I heard that you are moving. Am I right?"

"Yes, Mr. Brunner. You heard correctly," Percy tried to sound less nervous than he was.

Mr. Brunner lifted his fingers to under his own bearded chin. "Good. You know, boy, I've always considered you like my own son - " Percy flinched again. He didn't have a dad but it was true. Mr. Brunner was like Percy's dad; always giving advice and watching over him like he was his son. " – and since you are going, I want you to have a little something of mines."

The Greek teacher pulled out his desk and took out something skinny and shiny. Mr. Brunner took out a gold colored pen that had symbols engraved to it that looked familiar to Percy. It was interesting how delicate and fragile he held this one pen. It was important to him and you could tell by the way he held it. Then he handed the pen to Percy. He looked sad and his hands were shaky when handing it over to the boy. But before he could stop, Percy already held the pen in his own hands. Percy examined the pen. He saw the symbols that were engraved in it. It was soon mixed up to show one word.

"Riptide?" Percy looked at his teacher in confusion.

"Ah, yes, the best of the best." Mr. Brunner replied.

"But this is a pen," Percy exclaimed, "A pen."

"Wait till you uncap it," Mr. Brunner told Percy. Percy just looked at him like he was that crazy nut-job of a teacher everyone talked about. "Well, go on." Mr. Brunner waited.

Percy slowly took off the cap of the pen, expecting just a tip of a regular pen. But in Mr. Brunner's eyes, he looked like he expected the pen to turn into a sword. _Crazy_. But neither of them were right, but it was close to Mr. Brunner's guess. Instead of the tip of regular pen, there was a sharp, knife-like object sticking out. It was kind of like the end of a scalpel – the sharp side of course.

Percy gasped, dropping the pen on the table. "Why are you giving me this?" He whisper-yelled.

Mr. Brunner chuckled and picked up the pen and capped it. "I have a feeling you will need it."

Percy just stared at Mr. Brunner in shock.

"Oh, c'mon, boy. Don't look at me like that, it's rude."

Percy snapped out of it. "S-sorry. But I can't accept this. I'm going to get in trouble." Bringing a weapon to school is against policy and it will get him kicked out.

"Last time I checked, you're moving," Mr. Brunner smirked. That's the wise man that's kicking in.

Percy sighed and shoved the pen into his jean pocket. "I suppose so. Thank you, Mr. Brunner."

"You're welcome, my boy. It'll come handy one day, and you'll be thanking me!" Mr. Brunner called out when Percy exited the classroom.

Percy made his way to his last class – P.E. And like every other P.E. class, he hated being there. Grover and Nico soon accompanied his side, walking towards P.E.

During P.E., they had their 2-mile final run and well, Nico and Grover weren't the best running partners. The whole time, Nico and Grover were arguing about death and nature. Nico would tell Grover about forest fires and that made Grover sniffle up a bit. But after everything, Percy got them to shut up and they were able to finish their run in 17 minutes. Not bad for their age group.

This time, the three friends really needed to shower. They all just hoped that the eighth graders finished their run late, and they did. As the three friends exited the locker room, Nico perked up.

"Shoot, guys, I forgot something!" Nico said.

Grover groaned. "Dude!"

"I'm sorry!" Nico apologized and ran back into the lockers to get whatever he needed.

Grover and Percy waited hesitantly for Nico outside the lockers. Percy saw the eighth grade boys making their way out of the gym and towards the locker rooms. Grover looked at Percy nervously.

"You go to class, Grover. I'll get Nico," Percy said. Grover looked at him unsurely but nodded and went off.

"Nico, hurry up!" Percy called out.

"I can't find it! Stupid jump drive!" Nico called back.

Percy grunted and went in to help his friend. Nico's head was stuffed into his locker, searching. Percy pulled Nico by the collar.

"Hey!" Nico yelled.

Percy dug into NIco's locker. He threw out pieces of clothing that seemed weeks old. Percy almost threw up from the dirtiness of Nico's locker but his eagerness to get out of the locker rooms stopped him from doing that. Then Percy stuck his hand in the back of the locker, pushing his limits when he felt something gooey and wet, but after random hand searching, he felt something small, square, and hard plastic-like.

"Found it!" Percy yelled and took out the jump drive. But as he turned around, he came face to face with Luke and his friends. One of his friends, Ethan, had Nico in a choke hold with his arm curled around the neck of the kid.

"Well, today is our lucky day boys! We got ourselves two fresh losers," Luke smirked while his friends laughed.

Percy decided to play along. "Great, looks like I got myself a bunch of losers that have nothing else better to do in life than pick on kids half their size."

The whole group of eighth graders shut up. Nico smirked. "What was that, Jackson?"

"You heard him!" Nico yelled causing Ethan to choke him harder.

Percy didn't have time to stop Ethan because Luke already had him by the collar against the lockers. Luke smirked at Percy, admiring how he made Percy look like a bug comparing to himself. Percy saw it in his eyes.

"Just let Nico go, and we can handle this like men," Percy managed to say even though he had hard time breathing. He was seriously getting tired of this – being beaten up by Luke and his friends. Maybe today will be the day he can finally get things straight between him and Luke. Well, he is going to leave the next day anyways so why not.

All the boys started cracking up. "Y-you're kid-kidding right?" Luke said through fits of laughter. But he saw that Percy had a straight face and saw that he was serious. Luke faced Ethan, still holding Percy by his collar, and motioned Ethan to let Nico go. Ethan did exactly that and Nico dropped to the floor. Nico attempted to go for Percy but Ethan held him back.

"No, you don't loser. Go!" Ethan commanded. Percy mouthed to Nico, _just go. _Nico hesitantly got up and ran out of the locker rooms leaving Percy, Luke and his gang.

"Got to admit, Jackson, that's pretty brave of you to save your friend like that." Luke admitted, but then he gave a sharp punch to Percy's gut, hitting the bruise. Percy cried out in pain, "But very stupid," Luke smirked.

Luke continued shoving Percy into the other lockers and beating the hell out of him. Percy couldn't fight back because he couldn't even get up. It took one sharp punch to the jaw to knock out Percy cold. Luke turned around to his friends and they howled. When celebrating, Percy lay on the cold, hard locker room floor. Soon, though, he regained feeling in his body and stirred – groaning in the process. The sound of Percy caught Luke's attention.

"Stay down," Luke growled as he brought Percy up by his collar again. Percy's reflex brought his hands to his pocket and grabbed something. It was hard and good enough for Percy. When Luke brought his fist up to finish off his victim, Percy took out the object and took a slash at Luke's face. Luke screamed in pain and let go of Percy to cover his face.

Percy didn't have time to check up on Luke because he was already running for the exit. Luke's friends were too shocked to go after him, but when he was running, he saw blood dripping from Luke's hands. Percy cursed silently when he saw the blood knowing that he was in deep trouble. When running, Percy glanced at the object that he used as his weapon.

It was Riptide and it was uncapped, exposing the sharp scalpel-like end. The tip showed evidence of blood and Percy cursed again. Now he was in some deep trouble. Percy immediately ran to the boy's bathroom to clean Riptide and cap it again. Looking into the mirror, he saw that he had a ring of red around his eye. He looked around the bathroom to help cover it up.

Strangely and miraculously, there was a pair of sunglasses lying on the toilet paper roll in one of the stalls. Percy thanked god and grabbed the sunglasses and threw it on. He ran out of the bathroom, causing students in the hallway to look at him. Percy ignored all of them and pushed through them to get to the main doors to exit the building. Luckily, he saw Nico and Grover standing by a nearby tree outside. Percy ran out of the building to meet up with them.

"Hey, guys," Percy panted.

"Whoa, are you all right, dude?" Grover asked while handing a bottle of water to Percy. He instantly grabbed it and chugged it.

"Yo," Nico started, "Thanks back there. They would've _killed_ us!" Then his face transferred in shock. "Wait, you're _alive_. Damn, Percy, you're alive!" Nico gave Percy a one-arm hug.

"What is he talking about, Percy?" Grover asked, completely confused about the situation.

"Percy took on Luke and his gang," Nico grinned and Grover stared at him with shock.

"Really?" Grover asked, astonished.

"Guys, we should go home – " Percy tried saying but was interrupted with a loud shriek that belonged to a girl and soon, a bunch of other girls.

Everyone's attention shifted to the main doors. Ethan threw open the doors and started towards Percy with others following.

"Jackson!" Ethan called out, walking towards Percy.

"Grover. Nico. Leave, now," Percy instructed his two friends. He didn't want them getting involved with his crap. At first, they refused but Percy just glared at them, causing them to back down and leave.

Ethan was getting closer and Percy started inching back. He couldn't run because Ethan would just catch him, so it was no use running. Ethan smirked, knowing that Percy had nowhere to go. There were no teachers around, school was over, and they were practically off-campus.

Percy backed into a wall and gulped. Ethan finally made it to Percy with everyone crowding them. He grabbed the seventh grader by the collar and dragged his back against the hard wall.

"You really are asking for a death wish, aren't you?" Ethan asked Percy. Before Percy could retort, a familiar voice called out.

"Ethan!"

He turned around and his face met some one's fist. Ethan fell cold to the ground and Annabeth stood over him, cracking her knuckles.

"Mess with someone your own size," Annabeth spat. Then she saw Percy against the wall and she immediately came to his aid. "You okay?" She asked him.

Percy nodded slightly. Annabeth wrapped Percy's arm around her shoulder, helping him up.

"What happened, Seawee – " she was cut off when Luke came through the group of students. He was holding his face, blood seeping through his hands. Annabeth almost dropped Percy when she ran to Luke's aid. "What the hell, Luke?" She almost screamed and held Luke's waist to stop him from falling.

"I-it was him," Luke stuttered like he was scared out of his wits. Percy knew it was fake, he could almost see Luke smiling through his hands. But Annabeth fell for it, like always.

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked.

Luke gestured his body to face Percy, who was sitting on the floor, struggling to stand up. Annabeth didn't bother to help him because she was too shocked. She couldn't believe that Percy would do that to Luke. She knew that he didn't like Luke, but to harm like this wasn't in Percy's nature. And it wasn't because it was an accident. But the way Luke explained it, made it seem like Percy did it on purpose.

Percy scoffed when Luke explained himself. He said that he saw Nico being held in a choke-hold by Ethan and so he went to try to help him. But when he tried to help, Percy came in with a sharp object and sliced his face. Total _lie_. Annabeth would be stupid to actually believe that story – but she did anyways.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Percy?" Annabeth yelled at Percy, holding Luke in her arms.

Percy looked at her in shock. "What's wrong with me? No! What's wrong with you? How could you believe that lie?" Percy shot back.

Annabeth gestured at Luke's face. "Excuse me but he's the one with the bloody face."

Percy threw off his sunglasses, exposing his black eye. Annabeth gasped in shock and glanced at Luke.

"Self-defense," Luke mumbled. Annabeth glared back at Percy again.

"Oh, save it, Luke. This was the offense," Percy said pointing to his eye, "And that was my self-defense." He pointed at Luke's face.

"He's lying," Luke said directly at Annabeth.

Annabeth was caught between the both of them. She didn't know who to believe but seeing both of them in pain made her hurt. The fact that they inflected pain on each other made her angry also. Seeing Luke's face, bloody and pale, caused Annabeth to pity him.

"Why, Percy?" Annabeth almost snapped.

Percy couldn't believe that she's falling right into Luke's lie. He did feel a little bad that he hurt Luke like that, but he's glad he did it. "You really believe him?"

"Proof is right in front of me! How can I not?" Annabeth yelled. Everyone was now watching like this was a movie. Some people even had their phones out to record the scene.

"Well, maybe because I'm your best friend and you should believe _me,_" Percy almost cried out to her but held himself together.

Annabeth shook her head making Percy's heart break. "Percy, you really screwed up this time. The _least _you could do is apologize to him!"

"I'm not apologizing for something I'm not sorry about," Percy said through gritted teeth. Everyone was surprised to see Percy like this, which made this more interesting to them.

Annabeth snapped. "Gods, Percy! Why are you so damn _immature_? I'm giving you a chance to fix your crap and you're throwing it away like a damn kid! The Percy _I _know would do the right thing and apologize!"

Percy snapped too. "The Annabeth _I _know wouldn't be standing by that jerk's side, aiding him. The Annabeth _I _know would be by my side and believe me when I say that he attacked me first." He took in a deep breath, "But I guess we were both wrong."

Annabeth stared at Percy, hurt by his words. Percy saw the look on her face and instantly felt bad, but he was relieved that he got that out of his system. He couldn't handle it and turned around to leave and the crowd boo'd.

Luke grinned during Annabeth and Percy's fight. He felt so accomplished. But once Percy left, Luke went back to the crying, in-pain, guy that everyone pitied. Thalia rushed to his side and gave Annabeth a concerned look.

"I'll take care of him, Annie. I think you have something to take care of," Thalia said obviously meaning the Percy-situation. Annabeth would've punched Thalia for saying 'Annie' but she was too busy running after Percy. She was not done with that boy.

Percy power-walked home, clutching his bruised up stomach. He was in _pain._ He would groan every now and then during the walk. To make the situation worse, it started raining . . . _cats and dogs. _ Today was just not his day. Way to make a positive memory of the last day in New York, huh?

"Percy!" someone called from behind. He heard splashes of water come closer to him. Percy started to walk faster so that his feet picked up from the ground a little higher.

"Percy, wait!" the same voice called again. Percy didn't know what came over him but he stopped and turned around.

Annabeth was standing in front of him. She was completely soaked from the rain; her hair no longer showing their curls and grey eyes were dull. To make it worse for her, she was in summer clothes, meaning she was wearing only shorts and a simple t-shirt. She was completely freezing, causing her voice to come out into a stutter.

"W-we need t-to t-tal-talk," Annabeth's jaw chattered.

Percy was clearly not interested in starting with her again but gestured her to continue. Annabeth sighed thinking that he was not interested in moving the conversation somewhere cozy and warm.

"Wh-what's gotten in-into you, h-huh? Yo-you're not th-the same an-nymore," Annabeth said, folding her arms to contain warmth.

Percy decided this would be a perfect time to spill his heart out to Annabeth. _Don't hesitate to do what you want to do_. _Every day is not promised to you_. Percy's voice mocked him.

"I agree. I'm _not_ the same anymore. I'm not that kid getting pushed around every day in school. I'm not that kid that walked around the hallway, afraid of bumping into bullies. I'm not that kid that everyone thought was a freak. And I'm _glad _to say I'm not that kid anymore because today, I stood up for myself."

Before Annabeth could say something, Percy continued. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm sorry that I can't be that kid for you anymore. But you need to stop being my friend because you pitied me all these years and you need to stop wishing that I would be that kid again. I _never_ want to be that kid ever again_." _Percy said in disgust.

Annabeth looked at him, shocked at what he thought. "You seriously think I became your friend because I pitied you? That's – "

"Sad? Yeah, exactly, but true. Hey, wouldn't blame you. ADHD, dyslexic, troubled, dumb, and raised by a single mom. I'd feel sorry for that person."

Annabeth shook her head. "Really, Percy? Stop thinking about yourself for one minute. I'm ADHD, dyslexic, and raised by one father. Then I have a step mother who treats me like a _dog_, and all my life, I've been called a nerd, geek, and all those other names. And you think I felt bad for _you_? Percy, I became your friend because I finally found someone who I could relate to! And that _kid_, he was awesome until today, when he screwed things up between us."

Percy felt bad. But he couldn't stop his mouth from moving. "Well, I guess that's one thing that the old me will always have: screwing things up. But let's face it; the only thing I've been screwing up was you and Luke."

"What are you talking about?" Annabeth asked, irritated that he changed the subject to Luke.

"You know what I'm talking about, Annabeth. You two have been friends way longer than we've been friends. You like him and I really didn't care about it until you started believing his lies. And right now, you may still think I'm lying about earlier, but no matter what you think, I'll _never _be sorry for what I did to him today."

Annabeth was too shocked to respond. Percy pursed his lips and didn't get a good look at her until now. Seeing the word hurt written all over her face made Percy feel guiltier than ever. She didn't deserve that from Percy, but at the same time, she needed the truth from him. It's the best thing he could get off his chest instead of carrying it on him for the rest of his miserable life. He was going to miss her while he was gone. But now he screwed everything up. He knew that this would probably be the last time he would see her for the next four years. Seeing her in the rain, hurt, tired, and cold – that wasn't the last image Percy wanted to see of her.

Percy slid off his blue hoodie and tossed it to Annabeth. Minus well solve one of those problems. Annabeth caught it by the hood, and her eyes averted to the jacket. From there on, she stared at the jacket. Percy sighed, feeling bad for everything he put her through.

"Maybe one day, we'll look back on this and just laugh," He said, trying to relieve the situation. "Until then, I'm sorry." The next words hurt both Percy and Annabeth.

"Bye, Annabeth." It wasn't the happy goodbyes like they would say to each other. This was one of those sad, probably-never-going-to-see-you-again goodbyes. Percy painfully turned around and continued his way to his apartment, leaving Annabeth in the rain and holding his hoodie.

Both of them cried themselves to sleep that night – thinking about each other.

* * *

At the airport next day, everyone came to say goodbye to Percy and his mom. Percy promised Nico and Grover to email them once and a while. Mr. Chase also showed up to say goodbye. Percy was sad that Annabeth didn't show up, but understood that they both need their distances from each other for a while – a long while – and figure things out. The sad part is that his heart was broken and it didn't even belong to her.

Percy rested his head on the glass window of the plane. His life in New York flashed through his mind.

"Please buckle up and turn off your cell phones as the plane is getting ready for takeoff," a lady's voice announced. Percy heard the engines turn on and the wheels beneath him move. Soon, the plane was off the runway and high in the air.

"Enjoy your ride. Next stop: Honolulu Hawaii," the lady announced again.

_Goodbye, New York. _Percy thought.

* * *

**(Characters belong to Rick Riordan) **

* * *

**ANNABETH, Y U NO BELIEVE PERCY? Lulz. She's blinded by love - it's a dangerous thing. Sorry, it took me a long time to write this chapter. I had a writers block on this one. I hate that crap. Anyways, it was hard trying to make Percy and Annabeth fight like that, but I guess I'm pleased with the outcome, idk. **

**And you like the new app Annabeth made. *Audience: "I see what you did there. .0."* _Pft_, thanks ;) Also, Riptide get's a makeover? OR, how Luke get's his scar? See what I did there? Too much? Oh, okay. **

**Next chapter will be about Percy's short life in Hawaii. You should probably read it because it's important. He meets some one rather important that will become an important role later in the story. No hints for you. Hehehehe, ya'll gonna have to read to find out. **

**Okay, review too. **

**REVIEW OR ELSE I AIN'T UPLOADIN'. (Just kidding, I would _never_ do that to you guys.) *Evil part of me: _Well, you would because you won't know if people actually like the story or not.* _(Shut it, I love my readers too much.) _You have no friends, do you? _(._. ) (/._.)/ Review, favorite, subscribe, or whatever tickles your pickle! Review doe, lol, I like reviews. **

**-Breana**

**CHECK OUT MY OTHER STORY: _Life After War: Curse. _It's not an AU like this story. K~**


	4. Hello Hawaii

_Hello Hawaii_

* * *

_Bing! _Sally gently shook Percy by his shoulders when the plane finally reached its destination. Percy stirred and groaned in the process.

"C'mon, sweetie. Wake up, we're here," Sally said in a gentle voice.

It took a while for Percy to finally lift open his eyelids and his vision to fully focus of his surroundings. Everyone was already getting their bags in the compartment above them and exiting the plane. Both Percy and his mom got their belongings as well and walked through the narrow space towards the exit of the plane.

They finally exited the plane and entered the airport building. Percy looked around; it wasn't any different from the one in New York, except it was a bit smaller. Sally was holding a map that helped guide them out of the airport. Percy swore that they were walking in circles because he kept seeing the same thing over and over again.

After passing Starbucks four times, Percy decided to speak up. "Are you sure you know where we are going, Mom?"

Sally sighed and crumpled the map in her hand. "No, no I don't." She replied.

Percy rolled his eyes. He tried looking around for signs that would point them to the exit of the building but there was none. "We're so screwed." Percy mumbled.

"Who's screwed?" Someone asked and Percy realized that it wasn't his mom's voice. Percy turned around to come face to face with a red-haired girl. She looked the same age as Percy and wore a smile upon her face. She had slightly curly, long red hair and tiny bits of freckles on her face. She wore bright green skinny jeans and an orange shirt with flowers all over it. The one thing that caught his eyes was her eyes. They were green and quit pretty. Behind her stood a tall man and a lady who looked a bit younger than Percy's mom. Percy guessed that they were her parents seeing that the mom resembled the girl greatly.

"Hi," Percy's mom greeted the strangers.

The tall man shook her hand and the lady just smiled. "Hello. I'm John Dare and this is my wife, Lori Dare," he said gesturing to the woman beside of him, she smiled and shook Sally's hand. Then he gestured towards the girl standing in front of him, "And this young lady is my daughter – "

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," the girl finished for him. She smiled sweetly at Sally and the green-eyed boy.

"I'm Sally Jackson and this is my son, Percy Jackson," Sally introduced.

"I'm guessing that you two are lost?" Mr. Dare asked.

Sally smiled sheepishly. "Is it that obvious?"

Both Mr. and Mrs. Dare laughed. "We've been going on vacations here for years. We like to help as much newcomers as we can," said Mrs. Dare.

"Oh thank gods!" The Dares looked at Sally strangely when she said "gods" instead of God. Percy quickly caught their attention before getting suspicious.

"Well, we should get going then," Percy said hurriedly.

The Dares guided the Jacksons to the exit of the building. During the walk, Rachel stayed by Percy's side, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. Behind them were their parents and they were talking about all kinds of stuff.

"So, are you from New York too?" Rachel suddenly asked, ruining the tension between them.

"Yeah. You?" Percy asked awkwardly.

"Yup," she replied. It was weird to Percy because he never seen her before.

"Oh, what school did you attend?"

Rachel's face fell, making Percy regret asking. "I – uh – was home schooled. My parents were too busy with their jobs so they hired an expert tutor to school me, it was less cheap than school."

Percy almost immediately envied Rachel. "Wow, I wish I was homeschooled."

Rachel glanced at Percy, shock on her face. "No, don't ask for that, Percy. I never got the chance to meet anyone, make friends, have someone to talk to, it all sucks."

For the first time, Percy pitied someone. It hasn't been an hour since they met, but he felt like he needed to be there for this her. Percy hesitantly gave her a pat on the back, gesturing that he was there for her. Rachel stiffened for a moment but relaxed to his touch. She smiled gratefully up at him (because he did tower her by several inches.) and he returned a smile.

Their moment was interrupted when they exited the airport building. Sally and Percy's breath was caught when they surveyed their surroundings. It was _beautiful_. The landscape was full of luscious greenery and rigged mountains. The horizon was also beautiful. The water glistened in the sunlight and the clearness of it was breath-taking. But what got both of their attention was the clean air. Percy and Sally could not stop taking deep breaths of the fresh, clean air that filled their nose. It was complete paradise.

The Dares just waited for them, clearly used to this reaction from other people they've helped. After a few minutes, the air was filled with gasoline because cars started coming in to pick up people.

"Do you guys have a ride?" Mr. Dare asked.

Sally dug in her bag to take out a bunch of papers. She took out a little pamphlet and scanned it. "Ah, yes! We're supposed to wait for the _Aulani _shuttle," she said, struggling with the word _Aulani_.

Rachel looked up at Mrs. Jackson with surprise and excitement. "Aulani? The Disney Resort? You guys are staying _there_?" Percy was just as surprised as Rachel was because he didn't know they were going to live there.

"Yes, sweetie," Sally replied to Rachel with a smile. "Why? Do you have suggestions of things to do there?"

Rachel was about to answer but Mrs. Dare interrupted her before she could babble off on all the things to do. "Before my daughter could go on and on about the things you could do, we can just tell you when we get there. We stay there now ever since it opened recently. It's a very good resort."

"That's wonderful!" Sally exclaimed. Percy still stood in shock as he heard about where they were going to live for four years. _Huh, this won't be a bad life overall_, he thought. He started to think about all the wonderful things that were going to be over there or at least what the commercials showed.

After a few minutes, the Dares and Jacksons started to bond with each other. Lori and Sally started to find common interests and so did Percy and Rachel. Rachel and Percy didn't have the same things in common as Percy and Annabeth did, however. But the more Rachel talked about herself; Percy started to forget about his relationship with Annabeth.

Soon, a small van with a very decorative sign on it saying _Disney_ _Aulani Resort _came through the entrance. The Jacksons threw in their bags and the Dares helped. Before going in the van, Sally said her farewells to the Dares.

"Thank you guys for helping us today!" Sally said gratefully.

"No problem, Sally. See you at the hotel later!" Lori replied while waving to her when Sally entered the van.

Percy looked at Rachel and what she did surprised him. She hugged him. Percy could smell the sweet cherry sent in her hair as she clung on to him. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear and let go.

Percy was too shocked to reply. He was snapped out his trance when his mom called him.

"Let's go, Percy!" Sally yelled from inside the van. Percy took that note and ran into the van, hopping in dramatically. He waved at the Dares and they waved back. Sliding the door to close it, the van was off to their new home.

The van pulled up to the entrance of the resort. It looked clean and crowded. A bunch of tourists were entering and exiting the lobby with amazement shown on their faces. Sally gave the driver a little tip before exiting the van and getting their luggage. They both walked towards the entrance of the building, examining it in awe. The roof was shaped like a downwards V and the texture made it look like it was made of grass. Before their amazement could become any less, they entered the lobby.

"You didn't tell me we were staying _here_?" Percy almost gasped.

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. Disney sponsors the company I work for now and they offered me to stay here while we live here. Totally free except the room service and all and that reminds me, don't be tempted to go overboard with it." Sally said in a warning tone. Percy nodded, clearly not interested in what she was saying because he was too busy admiring the beauty of the lobby. And this was just the lobby.

Sally walked up to the front where the main desk was located with Percy trailing behind her. Once they got to the main desk, they were greeted by a young man with brown hair and eyes. He was muscular and tanned. He smiled like it was his job to do so.

"Aloha. How may I help you today, ma'am?" said the young man.

"Hi. Um, reservation for Sally Jackson," Sally replied.

"Okay, one minute please." He said as he glanced at the computer screen in front of him. After a few clicks and ID checks, he went to the back and grabbed a key and a brochure. He handed the items to Sally and she took it. "You'll be staying at the Oceanic suit located at the far west building. Enjoy your stay here at Aulani, Ms. Jackson," he said, giving that fake smile again.

Sally smiled at the young man and continued her way outside with Percy. As things couldn't get any better, it did. Both of them gaped at the sight before them. There were four buildings surrounding them; two on the right and two on the left. They all looked the same – a triangular top and texture that made them look like it was made of wood and grass. In the front of them were a bunch of plants and a river-like trail that swiveled the ground and lead the beach in front of the resort.

"Enjoy the view?" said a voice behind Percy. It was very familiar.

Percy turned around and there was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. She smiled and scanned the area as well.

"Yeah, as many times I've been here, I could never get used to _this_," she admitted.

"It's beautiful," Percy complimented, still looking at her. He didn't know if that was for Rachel or the sight of the resort. Either way, it was true. Rachel didn't notice him looking at her when he said that and he silently thanked gods for that. Her parents were already guiding Sally to her suit when she told them where they were staying.

"So, where are you staying?" Rachel asked while walking with Percy to their suit.

"Um, I think it's called the Oceanic suit. It's in that building," Percy said, pointing to the building located on the far end on the right side of the resort.

Rachel's eyes lit up in excitement. "We're in that same building! Oh thank God!"

Percy was amazed that he they were in the same hotel for the summer. It was nice; he made a new friend already. "Thank gods," Percy mumbled.

Rachel noticed. "_Gods_?" she asked. She found it strange that he and his mom said "gods" instead of God.

Percy laughed nervously. He didn't want to bring out the _greekiness_ in him. Annabeth and Percy would say "gods" because they were into the Greek culture and they had more than one god so they started saying it plural instead of singular. The thought of Annabeth made Percy's heart ache as he thought about what happened yesterday. Rachel saw the sadness showing on Percy's face and felt bad.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked him, placing her hand on his shoulder. That touch brought Percy back to when he was packing and Annabeth placed her hand on his shoulder. They both gave that gesture of telling him that they were there for him. Except, Annabeth probably didn't mean it and Rachel did.

Percy couldn't let the same thing happen to him again. Fall for a girl that he doesn't have a chance with. He gently shrugged off Rachel's hand off his shoulder. Rachel felt hurt by his actions and Percy noticed.

"Sorry, it's just . . . hard for me to be moving like this," Percy said, hiding the rest of the truth. Rachel could tell he was hiding way more than that but nodded, understanding the hardship he was going through. Still yet, she was going to find out what was really going on.

"I understand," Rachel said in a soft tone.

All of them finally reached their destination.

"Sally, there's this spa that I think we should go to. It's ranked number four in the top ten best spas in the world. I couldn't go the last time because my husband decided that sitting a hard rock, waiting to catch fish was better than getting a nice massage," she said while nudging her husband in the rib, causing him to groan.

"Hey! At least I caught something!" He protested. Percy and Rachel laughed.

"Hun, a plastic bag does not count," She argued back. He waved his hand in the air in annoyance and walked into the hotel to get their room information. Lori turned back to Sally. "So what do you say?"

"That sounds fun," Sally smiled.

"All right. I already have an appointment scheduled at 5, see you there!" Lori Dare reminded. Sally jotted that information in her little flip phone.

Sally gave Lori one last wave before entering their building towards their hotel suit. Percy already left Rachel to follow his mom. Their luggage was already delivered to their rooms located on the 20th floor. Sally and his son took the elevator up, Percy accidently pressed 4, 9, 11, and 15 before his mom finally pressed the 20. The whole ride, including pit stops, Sally explained how their lives are going to be in Hawaii. Percy started to believe the greatness of his new life here.

Finally, a _bing _signaled the stop on the 20th floor. Percy and Sally exited the elevator and walked down the hallway.

"532, 533, 534, 535," Sally counted the numbers on each door in the hallway. ". . . 538! Here we are!" Sally said excitedly and pulled out a small, plastic card. She inserted the card into a thin slot located next to the doorknob, and the light turned green. Sally placed her hand on the doorknob, suspense creeping both of them.

Before turning, she sighed. Then she looked down to her 12 year-old son, gesturing her to open the door to their new home. Percy hesitated a little before taking the doorknob into his hand and turning it. Percy and Sally gaped at their new home – almost dropping their luggage.

The living room was painted with a light blue, making the room look bright. The furniture was organized beautifully. Next to the living room was an open kitchen, which had upgraded furniture and an island in the middle. There were two doors on the opposite side of the room that lead to the two bedrooms. A blue-stained glass window was located on the wall. As the light shone through, it made the room glisten like the ocean water. What stood out the most was the porch outside that had a breath-taking view of the horizon and Diamond Head Mountain. It was plain beautiful.

"Wow," Percy gasped, examining the suit.

"Exactly," Sally confirmed her son's choice of vocabulary.

"And so we're living _here_?" Percy asked, still amazed by his surroundings. The thought of him staying here for four years – just wow. Well, that's what Percy thinks anyways.

Sally grasped his shoulder and gave a short chuckle of amusement. "Yes, Percy."

It took a while for Percy to adjust to his new surroundings. But after a few short weeks, he managed to get used to the fact that he's staying in Hawaii for the next four years. He and Rachel have been spending a lot of time together. Percy's feelings towards Rachel were mutual and vice versa. Although, Percy never really told Rachel about Annabeth. One being because he doesn't want his thoughts to trail back to Annabeth and feel guilty, and the other reason being that whenever he's around Rachel, he seems to get Annabeth out of his mind. That was strange for him because he usually _always_ thought about her.

The fun all ended when Rachel had to go back to New York for the school year. Percy was bummed that she was leaving but felt better when she said she's going to come back next summer. Before leaving Percy looking down, she went up to hug him.

Percy felt paralyzed for half a second but got a grasp of reality right after and wrapped his arms around Rachel too. He could feel her smile against his shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you, Percy." Rachel's voice muffled out.

"I-I'm going to m-miss you too, Rach," Percy replied a little hesitant.

Rachel let go, peering at her friend's face. "Bye."

"Bye," Percy simply fare welled as Mr. and Mrs. Dare started walking towards the gate to their plane. Before Rachel step foot in the line, a knot formed in Percy's stomach. He didn't know what it was, but the next thing he knew, he called out to Rachel.

Rachel turned around, looking at Percy with confusion clouding her face. Percy tried gathering his words but it came out like a mumble.

"Excuse me, Perce?" Rachel asked, looking around awkwardly.

He took in a deep breath. "I just wanted to say that . . . Thank you." Rachel still wore a confused-awkward face. "Well you know what I mean. Helping me out here and being my friend and all. I appreciate it." It all came out so fast before Percy could actually catch what he was saying. "A-and you know, it's just th-that I-I – um – "

"You're welcome, Percy," Rachel smiled, knowing where he was going with this conversation. Percy ran his hand through his hair casually, trying to ease the awkward situation he was in. Rachel told the lady standing in front of the gate to hold on. She responded by impatiently grunting but shooing her hand in the air for Rachel to continue. Then Rachel ran up to Percy with her backpack in her hand.

Percy looked at her confusingly. "What are you – "

He was cut off when Rachel took something out of her bag. She held out her hand and opened it up, exposing a necklace. It was woven by dry coconut husks as the necklace part, and in the middle was a whale tooth carved as a Hawaiian hook. It was white and really nicely sanded. Percy almost gaped at the unique item in front of him.

"Well, are you just going to stand there and stare at it or are you going to take it?" Rachel asked a bit hurriedly as she saw that the lady at the gate was waiting impatiently.

"This is for me?" Percy asked, taking the necklace.

"No, this is for your mother," Rachel stated sarcastically. "Yes, Percy, it's for you. I made it last week at the craft store. Figured I would give it to you before I leave so that when I'm gone – "

"I still have something to remind me of you." Percy finished for her, feeling another knot in the bottom of his stomach.

"Yeah," Rachel sighed. "Well, hope you like it."

"I love it."

"Good. I got to go," she said as she saw the lady waving at her. "See you next summer, Percy!"

Percy waved at Rachel as she disappeared into the exit of the building into the plane back to his old home. "Bye, Rachel," Percy mumbled.

Little did he know, his mom watched the whole scene, almost tearing up at the sight of her son and his new friend. She almost tore his cheeks off when she went to go pinch them.

"Mom, what are you doing? Let go, please!" Percy groaned and rubbed his sore cheeks.

"You guys are _so _cute!" Sally exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"Wait, what? No, Mom, we're just friends," Percy defended.

Sally shook her head. "Percy, Percy, Percy. 'Just friends' doesn't mean anything in this world anymore." Then she jumped into her car. Percy followed, except he sat in the passenger seat. "You guys remind me a lot of – "

"Mom, stop!" Percy yelled, knowing that she was going to say that they remind her of Annabeth and himself.

Sally's face dropped. "Sorry, sweetheart. I mean, things between you two are not that bad. You can still talk to – "

"It's been two months, Mom. She hasn't called, mailed, or even bothered to communicate with me in _any _way. I know how to take hints, okay? She doesn't want to talk and maybe I don't want to either. We're _over,_" Percy said through gritted teeth, urging the tear to not fall. The way he said that last two words, it felt like someone hit a shovel at his heart. He made it sound like they were actually going out.

"Don't say that, Percy. She is your best friend," Sally said in a soothing tone.

"_Was _my best friend. Not anymore," Percy corrected, laying his head on the car window.

Sally sighed and tried defending her son's friendship with Annabeth, but before she could say anything, Percy held the necklace that Rachel gave him. Sally saw Percy examine it closely.

He sighed. "Besides, I have another best friend." Then he tied the necklace around his neck, letting the whale-bone carving dangle by his collar bone. It hurt his throat as he said that line, feeling a pang of hurt and coldness in his heart.

Sally could almost feel her son's feeling of hurt but continued to drive off. After the long silenced ride back to "home", Percy remember almost running to the building and into the elevator, seeing Sally a million yards behind. When they got to their floor, Percy ran to their room, scanned the card into the slot, ran to his room, and plopped into his bed. Then he shredded his tears. Funny, a thirteen year-old crying all alone? Yeah, asides the fact that he was living thousands of miles away from his other life in New York, leaving his best friends behind and that he just declared that him and Annabeth are officially not friends, he's totally fine.

After a few minutes, Percy found himself staring at his iPhone located across the other side of the bed. He took a hold of it, and let his fingers to the tapping. He scrolled passed all the useless apps that were on his screen but stopped when he came across one. The icon was a golden-coin-like thing and had a rainbow over. Something clicked in his brain of seaweed. This is the app that Annabeth made for just them too.

He had an internal battle with his mind about whether or not he should call her. Then the yes side won. Before he could stop himself, he thumb clicked the app icon and up popped an image of a fountain.

"O, Iris, show me Annabeth Chase," Percy's words slipped out. The heard the phone make a shimmering sound and the image of the phone started to blur into something else. Percy's heart skipped a beat as he heard that familiar _click_ sound.

At first, all he saw was blackness on his screen and a hint of light showed through. It was obvious that someone was holding the phone and their hand was in the lens way. Instead of calling out for Annabeth, Percy just watched his iPhone screen. Then he heard a voice.

"Hey, so school's starting in a few weeks. And I was wondering if maybe we could . . . you know . . ." a voice said nervously. Percy knew that voice. It's the same voice that made him afraid at school.

Then another voice replied. This time it was a female and it was the voice that made butterflies filled Percy's stomach.

"I know what?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you well, want to go out?" What the hell? Who was this guy and who did he think he was asking out Percy's best friend.

There was silence between the two and then something showed up on his screen. On his screen, there were two people – Annabeth and Luke. They looked like they were at a park and the camera angle was facing up so he saw chins. This was normal to see, but never in his life would he see his best friend and the man he hated _kiss_.

* * *

All characters belong to Rick Riordan

* * *

**Summer school stress. High school stress. Freshman now. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Lol. So sorry it took me a while to update this chapter. Lately, my nose has been stuck in a sketchbook than in my laptop. Sorry about that. And I just made the last part of this chapter up. Probably going to change the story A LOT now. Oh well, I'm just trying to update faster for ya'll**. **Was that expected? Idk, oh well. Hope you guys love it, REVIEW. I need like ideas because I'm going off plot. But HEY, I'll just surprise myself. LOL. Ok. Might not take your ideas but just review them anyways. How about I make Rachel and Percy, huh? They cute. Yes. Yes. That sounds awesome. Want me to do it? Because I will without your reviews. *EVIL LAUGH* Lol, school tomorrow, good night. I'm tired, love you all. Favorite, subscribe, review, or whatever tickles your pickle. **

**- Breana**


	5. Friendships and Relationship

_Friendships and Relationship_

* * *

Percy was speechless – literally. His heart literally shattered. Instead of closing the video-call, he just watched Luke and Annabeth kiss. It wasn't some peck on the lips. No, it was a long, kiss and even though there was nothing more than lips, it was easy to tell that both of them wanted to keep kissing each other. Percy held his iPhone with a horrific scene taking place on his screen and watched. Sadness, anger, betrayal, distrust, and jealousy overwhelmed Percy to the point where all he felt was pain. He just couldn't take the overflow of emotions anymore and ended the video-call. He lay on his bed, thinking about what had just happened.

Why was he even feeling this way? He wasn't actually dating her or a friend anymore. So what was it? Percy felt stupid for over-reacting like some chick in a movie that got dumped. But that's the thing; he can't help but feel all these painful emotions take over him. All he could think about was the two kissing. They just kept kissing and the painful thought of them enjoying every second of it. His heart told him to bawl his eyes out. His mind, however, told him to suck it up and quit being like this over one girl.

Both his heart and mind were right. Percy's heart had an arrow through it for Annabeth. Now, that arrow just tore his heart into pieces, leaving a cold blank emptiness. But his mind had an absolute point. Percy was only 12 (soon to be 13), and here he was, conflicted and heart-broken over a girl that he didn't even have. Percy's mind almost mocked him – reminding him that he was never going to get Annabeth anyways and he need to move on. Percy believed it. He believe that no matter what, Annabeth was never going to consider Percy as more than a friend – not ever. No matter how much it hurts him, he has to move on.

And so he did.

Right when Percy closed his eyes, almost immediately, he awakened. It was strange like he didn't even fall asleep but his body felt fully restored. Percy shook his head while whipping his face thoroughly. He sighed; maybe it was a dream – or nightmare. Percy's relief went away when he saw his iPhone in his hand. Was it a dream? Or was it true? Every part of Percy wanted it to be a dream but all the emotions he felt was so real. He felt the heartbreak, sadness, anger, and jealousy. Should he look through his phone to see if Annabeth and Luke actually did kiss, or leave it, believing it was all a dream? Percy gripped his phone and set it down in the drawer besides his bed. Percy wanted to believe it was a dream.

But there's one thing that the dream couldn't stop him from – school. Percy's first year of school in Hawaii. Sally told him that he's going to be attending Kaneohe Intermediate. It was a small public school located the valley of Kaneohe – only a few miles away from Aulani. The last thing Percy wanted was school. Now new kids can pick on him and become the little geek walking around. Just to make his thoughts worst, Sally called out from the living room.

"Percy Jackson! Get ready! It's time for school!" She demanded.

Percy groaned. Digging in his boxes, he searched for a pair of clothes to wear on his first day. He started throwing useless clothes onto the floor of his room carelessly. He finally found a pair of casual jeaned shorts and a blue-green t-shirt. He tied the necklace that Rachel gave him around his neck. Then he proceeded to the bathroom to get away all the personal hygiene. He brushed his hair to get all the tangles out but still ran his hand through to make it look all messy again.

"Hey Mom, do I really have to go?" Percy asked as he walked into the living room.

Sally was too busy getting her things ready for her first day at her job to answer. Percy held back a laugh at how stressed his mother looked. After tying her hair back into a bun, Sally stopped to glance at her son.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Perseus. And yes, you do have to go to school today," Sally appointed. She took out her car keys and headed towards the door and Percy dragged himself behind.

After a long ride of grumbling and complaining from Percy, they finally pulled up to the entrance of Kaneohe Intermediate. There was a large building in the middle with other buildings surrounding it. Sally pointed to the large building in the middle.

"Go there to get your schedule. There should be someone to guide you to your classes," Sally instructed nervously.

Percy opened up the passenger door, ready to leave.

"Hey, Percy?" Sally asked before he closed the door on her.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck," she said. "I love you."

Percy gave a reassuring smile. "You too, Mom. Bye."

Sally drove off and left Percy by himself. He started walking towards the main building or the office. All around were kids on benches, playing football or on their phones. They all looked at Percy knowing he was new to school. Percy continued towards the building ignoring the glares and stares coming from the students.

Percy entered the office and up to the front desk. A lady came up and smiled at Percy.

"Hello. I'm Mrs. Anderson. You must be Perseus Jackson," she asked while looking through a few forms in front of her.

"Call me Percy," he replied.

Ms. Anderson smiled again, exposing her straight white teeth. "Well, Percy, here's your schedule for this year." She passed a piece of paper to Percy and then a young boy stepped up. He had black short hair and hazel eyes. He looked fit for his age and Percy guessed he was popular. "And this will be your guide for today. Percy, Keoki. Keoki, Percy Jackson."

Keoki took out his hand for Percy to shake. Percy hesitantly shook his hand.

"You two should get going. School starts soon. Nice having you here, Percy," Ms. Anderson smiled.

Keoki guided Percy out towards the exit of the office. While walking awkwardly to their homeroom, a few girls started to stare at them. But they weren't looking at Percy, they were checking out Keoki. Keoki ignored the looks of the girls, clearly not interested with them.

"So, where are you from?" Keoki spoke up. He had a deep voice for an eighth grader.

"Huh?" Percy asked suddenly.

Keoki laughed. "You're not from here, are you? Where are you from?"

"New York," Percy said, "how'd you know I'm not from here?"

Keoki didn't answer that question but said, "Cool."

They both made it to their homeroom and were greeted by a man with an aloha-print t-shirt on. Students were already seated in their seats leaving Percy and Keoki alone in the front of the class.

The man, or teacher Percy guessed, clasped his hands together. "So you must be the new student. Percy Jackson!" He said, pronouncing the 'c' with a 'k' sound.

Percy laughed nervously. "It's Percy, sir. Like an 's'," he corrected.

"Call me Mr. D," the man said, ignoring Percy's correction. "Please take a seat," Mr. D instructed the two boys.

Percy took a seat in front of the class and Keoki sat three rows behind. The whole class time went by getting glares from other students in the class. Percy could handle it but it was when a piece of paper that hit his head that drove him to the limits.

Percy stood up with the piece of crumbled paper in his hand. "All right. Who the hell did that?" Percy demanded, earning a few laughs from the students.

Mr. D stopped writing on the whiteboard. "Percy, I will not have you interrupting my class on the first day of school. This is your warning, boy. Now sit!"

Percy grunted and sat back down. Percy saw that in the corner of his eye, he saw a couple boys do a fist bump one row behind him. After class, Percy was the first to get out. Keoki had to run in order to catch up with him.

"Whoa, you're fast," Keoki gasped as he accompanied Percy's side.

"Thanks," Percy said.

"Don't worry about today, kids just like to pick on the new kids on the first day," Keoki reminded Percy.

"I don't care," Percy said.

Keoki sighed. "Come with me. I want you to meet a few friends of mines."

Keoki dragged Percy to a group of kids sitting around the table. Somewhere sitting on the table and throwing things at each other. Percy recognized one of them.

"Sup, guys," Keoki greeted the group of kids. They all gave a head nod and one girl with brown hair and eyes came up to Keoki to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "So guys, this is Percy Jackson, the new kid." Everybody turned around to look at Percy. Percy gave a nervous smile.

"Percy, this is Olivia – " the girl in his arms waved, "Henry – " a boy with dyed blonde hair and black eyes gave a head nod, "Kristen and Kaylin – " two twins waved at Percy, "and Jake." Jake ignored his introduction, not interested in Percy.

"I know you," Percy added, looking at Jake. "You're the kid that threw the piece of paper at me in advisory."

Jake looked up and smirked. "Huh, was it now?" Jake said with fake enthusiasm in his voice.

"Jake." Keoki warned.

Jake snarled. "Whatever. He's just another stupid haole." One of the twins punched Jake on the arm. Percy didn't know which twin that was but he obviously was going to get along with her.

"Don't be rude, Ikaika!" The twin said. Ikaika was probably Jake's Hawaiian name, Percy guessed.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Kristin," Keoki said to the twin. Kristin smiled accomplishedly.

"We're planning on going to the beach after school today," Olivia chimed in. "Want to come?"

Before Percy could even reply, Jake groaned. "Bet he hasn't even gone to a beach before."

He earned another punch from Kristin. But what he said was true. Percy has never gone to a beach before.

Henry noticed Percy's facial expression. "You never went to the beach?" Henry asked.

"I – uh – I was more of a city person," Percy said sheepishly.

"Of course you were," Jake retorted.

"Shut up, Jake. Percy, you have to come with us now," Olivia invited.

"Look guys, I'd love to come but –"

"Great. Meet you there at 3," Olivia said cheerfully. Then she went hand-in-hand with Keoki to their next class. Jake, Henry, Kristin, and Kaylin also walked away, leaving Percy alone.

_ Well, that just happened_, Percy thought.

The rest of the school day was left with a bunch of kids staring at Percy. Percy stood out of all the students in the school. All the kids were tanned while Percy had the lightest skin. It wasn't a racist thing but Percy learned that kids in Hawaii don't really get along with the people from the mainland. Keoki told him that it wasn't for that reason but because Percy was the new kid. Keoki was the only person in the school that was nice to Percy and it was weird to Percy because Keoki was one of the most popular in the school.

Usually the most popular would be the jerk in the school, but not Keoki. Keoki had straight A's, participated in all curricular sports, and was faithful in his relationship with Olivia.

* * *

After school, the six friends including Percy took a ride with Keoki's mom to the North Shore. The whole ride, Kristin kept glaring at Jake, making Jake feel real uncomfortable. Kristin and Henry were talking about random things. Keoki had his arm around Olivia and they talked lovey dovey things. Percy sat in the passenger seat, across of Keoki's mom.

"So, Percy. I heard that you're from New York?" Keoki's mom asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Percy confirmed.

The van erupted in laughter. Percy was confused.

After Keoki's mom calmed from laughter, she spoke. "Sweety, here in Hawaii, we don't call older people by ma'am or sir. It's common for kids to call older people by Aunty of Uncle. You can call me Aunty Kealoha."

"All right. Aunty Kealoha," he said, feeling a little weird saying "aunty" considering they weren't related.

"Way to adjust, Percy," Kristin called from the back of the van, and Percy could tell that Jake rolled his eyes.

Aunty Kealoha pulled up to the parking lot and the beach was awaiting the children. All of them ran towards the beach, throwing off their slippers, shirts, and bringing their surfboards. Percy heard the waves crash onto shore and the salty air fill his nose. For some reason, it felt so right to be here.

"Be safe, Percy. I'll be on the shore if you need anything," Aunty Kealoha told Percy. Percy smiled at her and walked towards the beach. Instead of having his shirt off, he kept it on. He didn't have the body that Keoki, Henry, and Jake had. Percy was scrawnier than them. Percy stopped once the water reached to his ankle.

Everything felt so right. Like he belonged here. His savory moment was interrupted when someone tackled him into the water face first. Percy got a mouth full of salt-water that he later choked out as he emerged the surface. After wiping his eyes, Percy saw Jake towering him with a smirk upon his face.

"You listen to me, bra. You'll never fit in with us. You think you're all that because you're from the mainland, don't you?" Jake held him by the collar of his shirt.

"Leave me alone, Jake," Percy hissed.

Jake pushed him back into the water while laughing. Kristin soon ran up to Jake and pushed him in the water as well. She helped Percy up.

"So sorry about him! Are you okay, Percy?" Kristin asked Percy, who was now coughing up salt water.

"I'm fine," Percy said. Everyone gathered around Percy now asking if he was okay. Henry and Keoki ran towards Jake. Keoki had Jake in a choke-hold and Henry was talking to Jake. When Jake got out, Keoki shoved him in the sand.

It took Olivia, Kristin and Kaylin to finally break up Keoki and Jake.

"You need to back off, Jake!" Keoki exclaimed while having Olivia hold him back from attacking.

Jake wiped off the blood from his lips and smirked. Kristin was by Jake's side and aiding his lip.

"Keoki's right, Jake. You need to stop being such a jerk to Percy," Olivia said.

Jake sat up and grunted. "Whatever," Jake said through gritted teeth and glared and Percy, who was still watching from a distance.

Olivia, Keoki, Henry, and the twins went back in the water, leaving Jake to watch all of them from the shore. Kristin walked up to Percy with a sadden expression. Kristin was a skinny girl with black long hair and blue eyes. Kristin was a bit taller than Kaylin and that's how Percy could tell them apart.

"Look, I'm sorry about him. Jake's been through a lot. Both his mother and father were killed in the mainland on a trip a few years ago. Ever since then, he's become cold and a jerk towards people from the mainland. But before that, he was a nice kid and all of us are trying to be there for him. Don't take anything he says personally, okay?"

Percy nodded. Now he understood why Jake didn't like him and he wanted to help Jake too. Kristin smiled.

"You should probably take off your shirt. It's hard to surf with it on," Kristin said while tugging on his shirt.

Percy tried brushing Kristin's hand away. "I-I don't s-surf."

Kristin wore a devilish smile. "Well, today will be your first day." Then took the collar of Percy's shirt and pulled it off, exposing his bare pale abdomen. Percy blushed. Kristin ignored it and passed Percy a 5-foot surfboard with a tribal design on it. "It's mines, you can borrow it for now. Now go!"

She pushed Percy further into the ocean where the waves were approaching. Percy had a hard time getting on the board but eventually got on and was in a laying down position. He started to paddle out further into the ocean where Keoki, Henry, and Kaylin were already waiting.

"You sure about this?" Keoki asked Percy hesitantly.

Percy thought for a moment and then nodded slowly. Keoki smirked and so did the other two.

"Well, New Yorker, let us show you how it is done in Hawaii," Henry said with a challenge. The three of them paddled out further where the waves started to develop. Percy watched as Kaylin got stuck in a 6-foot wave and rode it. She screamed in excitement as she rode it but was soon cut off when she fell into the ocean.

Henry laughed out loud but he soon was engulfed in a wave. Percy laughed at that. Then it was Keoki's turn. Keoki got caught in a 7-foot wave and stood up on his board, ready for the action. Soon, the wave formed into a barrel and Keoki got caught into it.

"CHEEEEEEE-HOOOOOO! Go Keoki!" Henry yelled out. Percy watched was Keoki exited the barrel with ease.

"Sorry, ah, pro!" Kaylin praised Keoki as he paddled his way back. Keoki pretended to be all cocky and they all laughed – including Percy.

"Your turn," Keoki said, looking at Percy. They all looked at Percy with curiosity.

Percy pursed his lips before paddling out further into the deep ocean. Percy sighed as he waited for a wave.

_Don't let me make a fool out of myself_, Percy prayed. _Please_. Right after, a huge waved approached. It looked about 10-feet tall and it was heading towards Percy. The groups of friends were shocked and Percy's eyes widen. Without controlling himself, he found himself standing on the board and riding the wave with ease. The friends watched in surprise as Percy did twists and flips while riding the wave. Percy was shocked as well. Finally, the wave died down and Percy paddled back towards the group of friends.

They all store at him with shock. "What?" Percy asked them.

"I thought you never surfed before," Keoki said.

Percy shrugged. "I haven't."

The for the next couple years, Percy grew onto the group of friends. Although Jake and Percy didn't get along, Percy tried helping Jake. All of them hung out at school and would go to the beach. Because of the constant visit to the beach, Percy became tanned. And all of the work out sessions with Keoki helped Percy grow out of the scrawniness.

Every summer, Rachel visited Percy and they would hang out. Rachel would always be shocked at the evolution of Percy each year. Percy would say that he doesn't feel any different but physically, he is.

Everything was going great for Percy. He almost forgot about his miserable life in New York. He became the best surfer known on the whole island and was considered "cute" or "hot" in high school. Olivia convinced Percy to get a haircut and so he did. But he promised to never cut his hair again so that it'll grow back.

* * *

One day, at the beach, the seven friends were enjoying their time together. They all paddled out to catch some waves. As always, Percy was saved as the last to go out but as he paddled out, the sky rumbled. The friends looked at each other.

"Percy! We got to get out of here, bra!" Henry called out. The three boys told the girls to start paddling back to shore and they did.

Percy didn't hear Henry and decided to catch a nice 11-foot wave that was approaching. He ignored the dark clouds approaching from the horizon and stood up to catch it.

"Get that idiot out of there!" Jake told Keoki. Keoki looked hesitant. The water started to get rougher than usual as the storm approached.

"Henry, Ikaika, just go!" Keoki demanded.

They gladly paddled back to shore, accompanying the girls. Keoki paddled towards Percy, whom was now waiting for another wave. "Jackson! We have to go!" Keoki yelled.

Percy looked back at Keoki with confusion. When he was about to protest, a huge wave caught both of them off guard and crashed on them. Percy struggled against the roughness of the waves and tried retrieving to the surface for air. He failed. Percy felt the water fill his lungs and his eyes roll back to the back of his head. Then the rough, dangerous currents dragged his body away from the island, carelessly.

* * *

_I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead_. Percy chanted in his head. It was dark and felt like nothing. Was this the way death felt like? Nothing? _Just when things were getting better, this happens,_ Percy thought. Now wasn't the time for death.

_Wake up_, Percy thought to himself.

_Wake up_.

Percy felt warmth fill his body.

Wake up!

Percy gasped and coughed out mouthfuls of salt water. He felt a cold towel on his forehead and soft blankets wrapped around him. _Where am I?_ He thought. Percy sat up and examined his surroundings.

He was laying on a small, twin-sized bed in what seemed like a girl's room. The walls were personally painted with a forest-scene. There was one window that showed the shore and horizon of some beach. Percy knew he was still on the island of 'Oahu. But where was he? He never has been here before.

Someone entered the door of the room with a tray and food on it. The girl smiled as she saw Percy awake. Percy's breath was caught. She was _beautiful_. She had long almond colored hair and eyes that matched her hair. She wore a dress that hung right above her knees, showing off her nice tanned legs. Her teeth were straight and pearl- white.

"Hi," the girl said. Her voice was gentle and sweet. Percy could tell that she was fragile, just by her voice.

"Hey," Percy greeted. "Who are you? Where am I?"

The girl passed the tray of food to Percy and sat by him on the bed. "I'm Calypso. You're in Makaha, the west side of 'Oahu. I found you washed up on the shore outside and you were passed out for a couple days."

"A couple days?" Percy asked in shock.

"Yeah. I've been taking care of you since then," Calypso blushed.

Percy couldn't stop staring at her. She was too beautiful to not look at. "Thanks."

Calypso store at Percy's eyes, admiring the green orbs. After a few moments, they started to lean towards each other. Her lips were too much to resist to Percy. Right before their lips met, Percy looked away. As much as he was tempted to kiss her, he felt that it was wrong. Calypso backed away too.

"Sorry," Calypso apologized.

"No, it's fine. Everybody's probably worried about me and I should call them to – "

Percy was cut off as Calypso's lips met his. Percy didn't hesitate to kiss back. Her hands wrapped around his neck as his hands were secure around her waist. The kiss was long, sweet, and passionate. It's nothing Percy has ever experienced.

After a few minutes, they both gasped for air. They both were a loss for words but Percy was the first to gather his.

"That was . . . amazing," Percy said. Calypso smiled with her cheeks lightly shaded in pink.

They joined in another kiss but Percy pulled back after a few seconds.

Calypso apologized again. "It's fine. I really enjoyed it. It's just that, we just met and my mom is probably worried sick. I really need to call her to let her know I'm fine."

"I understand," Calypso said and gave Percy a cell-phone. Percy smiled gratefully at her and she couldn't help but smile back. Calypso left the room and Percy dialed his mom's number.

He heard the phone ring 3 times before she answered.

"Mom?" Percy asked.

"Percy! Is that you! Oh thank gods!" Sally yelled through the other side of the line.

Percy laughed. "Yes, Mom, it's me. I'm fine and in Makaha right now."

"I'll be on my way! Thank gods, Percy. I'm glad you're okay," Sally said, calming down.

"Okay. I love you," Percy said.

Sally sighed. "I love you too, hun," and the call ended. Percy put down the phone and walked out of the room and onto the beach. There he saw Calypso walking along the shore, collecting sea-shells. Calypso noticed Percy watching. She smiled and he smiled back.

Percy walked up to her and stood close enough for their hands to touch. "My mom is coming to pick me up." Calypso's expression transferred to sadness for a moment but then she shook it off, replacing her face with a smile.

"That's great."

Percy nodded and took a look around. He noticed how isolated they were from everything. They were surrounded by a forest and the sea. There were no sign of others.

"Where is everybody?" Percy asked Calypso.

Calypso became tear-eyed. "There's only me. And now you."

"Oh." Percy said. Calypso was the only person here and no one else. Percy pitied her and felt bad at the loneliness over here. He couldn't just leave her all alone.

"I know we just met and all, but when my mom comes, you can come with us," Percy offered.

Calypso shook her head. "I can't, Percy. I have to stay here."

"Why?"

"When I was 10, I did something to bring shame upon my family. It was so bad that they banished me to this isolated spot on the island. 5 years later, here I am, living all alone. No one has ever come until you." By now, tears rolled down Calypso's cheek. Percy felt bad. To think that his childhood life was miserable, nothing compared to Calypso's.

He faced Calypso, feeling suddenly bad for her. They store in each other's eyes for a moment. Percy started feeling something that a 15 year-old shouldn't feel. Only one girl made him feel this way, and that girl took his heart and stepped on it. But what Calypso made him feel was something like that except it felt more gentle and soothing. He just met her and he was feeling this way. It was something about Calypso that made his heart do a back flip.

Percy cupped Calypso's face. "I will _never_ leave you alone," he promised. Calypso smiled, causing Percy's heart to skip a beat. Soon, an engine was heard from a distance and it was easy to tell that it was Sally coming to get Percy.

"You have to go," Calypso said and hurried back to her little house. Percy watched as she ran towards the house.

* * *

Percy walked out of the mini-forest and ended up on the side of the road. Sally's car rode up to the side and she ran out of the car to tackle Percy in a hug. Her arms were already struggling to touch each other because of how much Percy has grown.

Sally started patting Percy's face and Percy store at his mom like she was crazy. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Okay, Mom!" He grabbed a hold of Sally's wrists to stop the patting of his face. "Let's go home."

The next day at school was hell for Percy. Keoki, Henry, Olivia, and the twins drowned Percy with a bunch of questions. Jake just scoffed whenever they did. Percy had an answer to most of them but not all. It was until Henry asked, "I heard you washed up in Makaha. People say a girl our age lives there."

Percy flushed. "No way! You met her!" Keoki said in disbelief. The girls scowled, especially Olivia.

But before they started asking about Calypso, Percy defended himself. "I didn't meet anyone, okay? I don't what you guys are talking about."

Percy lied. Every day since he met her, they would meet up in the forest in Kaneohe and hang out. Sometimes, Percy would bring her to their suit and they would hang out in his room. They became really close and every day felt like his feelings for her were getting stronger. No one knew about her except Sally. Percy told everything to Sally. She felt bad for Calypso and that's the reason why she let her stay over their suite.

They weren't exactly official even though they did kiss here and there. But they had feelings towards each other that couldn't be explained. The sneaking and hiding went on for a bit until one day.

* * *

It was August 18th, Percy's birthday. No one knew his birthday except Sally and Annabeth. It was his last year in Hawaii too, which Calypso knew about.

Percy was in the shower freshening up for dinner with his mom later that night. Calypso sat on his bed, waiting for him. As much as she didn't want it, Percy stole a space in Calypso's heart. She thought about his unique sea-green eyes and messy black hair. Her thoughts washed away when a sound came from Percy's drawer.

Calypso opened up the drawer and took out a rectangular object with a blue case around it. It was Percy's iPhone. There was a shimmer sound coming from it and a _click_. On the screen appeared a girl with blonde curly hair and startling grey eyes. Her eyes glinted with excitement but soon showed confusion when she saw Calypso.

"Who are you and why do you have Percy's phone?" The blonde girl asked.

Calypso didn't recall Percy talking about this girl. He told her about Grover and Nico but never about her. "Uh, the question is 'who are _you_ and why are _you_ video-calling Percy?'" Calypso asked her.

"I'm Annabeth – Percy's friend."

"He hasn't told me about you," Calypso said.

Annabeth's expression changed to hurt. "Oh. Well, when you see him, tell him I said 'Happy Birthday.'" Annabeth said, fighting the cracking in her voice. Then the video-call ended, leaving a dark screen.

Calypso was beyond confused now. There had to be a reason why Percy hasn't talked about this girl, Annabeth. But when she saw Annabeth's expression when she said that Percy hasn't mentioned her, Calypso knew that something went on between the two. Next, why hasn't Percy told her that it was his birthday today?

Percy walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, leaving him shirtless. Calypso was used to this sight and he felt comfortable being shirtless now. Percy noticed that Calypso held his iPhone.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" Calypso asked.

Percy sighed. "Sorry, it's just that I don't like when people get me stuff."

"Well, since it is your birthday, I can't be mad at you. Happy Birthday, Percy," Calypso walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you," Percy smirked.

Calypso rolled the iPhone in her hands. "Annabeth said 'Happy Birthday'," she said softly.

Percy stopped buttoning up his shirt. Something turned in the bottom of his stomach at the mention of Annabeth again. He never heard anything about her since the past 2 years.

"She's pretty," Calypso admitted, setting down the iPhone on the bed.

An image of Annabeth popped into Percy's head again. Those blond curls and beautiful grey eyes. He tried imaging her now.

Calypso noticed Percy's sudden stiffness and how his eyes were distant and dreamy.

"You love her, don't you?" Calypso asked.

Percy didn't respond. Does he love her? Through all her things he went through with her, does he still love her? After meeting Calypso, does he still love her? Questions of his own flooded his head.

Calypso continued to stare at Percy. Then she looked down, "I love you."

That snapped Percy out of his thoughts. He knew that they had something between them, but love? He didn't even consider it to be love. He thought it was some teenage hormonal thing.

"But it doesn't matter. You love her," Calypso said.

Percy walked up to Calypso and took her face into his hands. He didn't want to see her like this. Though, he couldn't deny the fact of him loving Annabeth. As much as he didn't want to, he can't deny it. He prayed for him to get over her, but he can't.

"Hey, listen to me. It's my last year here. Let's just spend it together," Percy said with such care. Calypso looked up at him and gave him a half-hearted smile. She laid her lips on his and they shared a short and last kiss.

"Don't forget me," Calypso whispered in his ears.

* * *

"Make sure you come down here and visit us from time to time, Percy," Olivia told Percy as he threw his luggage onto the carrier. She gave a friendly hug and resumed to Keoki's side.

"We'll miss you," Kristin and Kaylin said at the same time and gave Percy a friendly kiss on both sides of his cheeks.

"It was one nutz time with you, bra. Take it easy in New York, cuz," Henry shook Percy's hand.

Jake walked up to Percy. It looked like he was forced to say something to Percy. Percy crossed his arms, waiting for Jake to say something. "Oh, take that smirk off your face, Prissy," Jake scowled. Percy immediately went to a poker face.

Jake sighed. "You're a good dude, Jackson. I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you even though you did nothing to me. Thanks for helping me. And come back anytime," Jake said with a softer voice. Percy smiled and grasped Jake's hand to pull him into a man hug. Jake pulled himself off and grunted.

Jake walked back to Kristin, who gave him a kiss on the cheek. Keoki laughed and walked up to Percy. He grasped Percy on his shoulder.

"Damn, man, it's hard to recognize you from four years ago," Keoki said noticing that Percy was no longer that skinny, pale kid anymore. "Change is good, Percy. But don't lose yourself in there, okay?" He said while tapping Percy's head. "Keep in touch," Keoki reminded.

"Of course I will," Percy smiled and grabbed Keoki into another man-hug. Keoki pounded Percy's back with the inside of his fist.

"Aloha, cuz," Keoki said.

Percy caught up to his mother and waved to his friends. They all waved back, including Jake. Percy and Sally finally entered the plane and went to their seats. Percy got the window and he took a glance at the island when they were descended in the air. This was the life he wished to live and now he was leaving it behind to go back to a life he didn't want.

_Goodbye, Hawaii, _Percy thought. _Bye Keoki, Olivia, Kristin, Kaylin, Jake, Henry, and Calypso._

* * *

__**Percy Jackson characters belong to Rick Riordan.  
**

* * *

**Aulani is awesome (': (Yes, it's a real place) My brother, Keoki, got a job over there at the spa attendant. So now I have a discount at Aulani. ;) So I'm so excited to go over there next weeeeeeeek. :D  
**

**The names that I came up is just names that I know. Like Kristin and Kaylin is twins that I'm friends with and Henry (Hanalei) is too. Jake is just a name I came up with xD  
**

**Aw, Percy is stuck in a love triangle. )':  
**

**I have problems of my own too. According to my mother, I need to "get off the computer" and go outside. I told her that I write stories for fanfiction but she believes that NO ONE reads my stories. Supportive huh? So REVIEW, so I could become that winning daughter that proves her mother wrong.  
**

**So is the Luke/Annabeth kiss real or no? Should Percy's friends in Hawaii visit Percy in New York? Review what you think or any ideas.  
**

**Thank you for all the reviews so far. Especially from TheChampionOfChaos! LOL. You're awesome (': Review, subscribe, favorite, or whatever tickles your pickle!  
**

**- Breana  
**


	6. Missing Him

_Missing Him_

* * *

Ever since he left, she's been falling apart. There hasn't been a day where she hasn't thought about him. There hasn't been a moment where she hadn't thought about how she treated him. She tried blaming all she's done on her mom. Maybe it's the absence of her mother that made her like this. Maybe it's because she doesn't have someone to go to talk about her problems. She tried blaming it on her mother, but she knows the guilt eating her up is because of her actions towards him.

The sudden change in Annabeth's behavior was noticed easily by others. Instead of being excited for school (summer school), she became like any other normal student in school. Instead of participating in class discussions, she sat quietly in the back of the class. She didn't drop out or anything – she was getting good grades – but good wasn't good enough for the real Annabeth. She strived for an A+ but not like before, when she strived to answer her questions like a college student.

Annabeth barely even hung out with Luke or Thalia anymore. Her daily routine was getting up, go school, go home, do homework, sleep, and so on. Her isolation to everything started to get everyone worried. Fredrick tried asking Annabeth what's wrong but she would always reply with a "nothing" or "let it go". It hurt a little to see his daughter this way and not know why.

It got to the point where Thalia couldn't take it anymore. It was a few weeks after Percy left and Annabeth was still trying to go through it herself. After school, she started walking home when she got pulled into an alley.

Annabeth took a swing with her fist, hopefully hitting the offender.

"Whoa! Annie! It's me!" the attacker yelled. Thalia let go of Annabeth's shoulders and rested her back on the wall of the alley.

"Thalia?" Annabeth blinked. "Gods, don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry. I just needed to talk to you," Thalia said, still keeping her distance from Annabeth.

Annabeth scoffed. "Well, normal people would approach the person. Not attack them!"

"You're over-exaggerating this whole situation, Annabeth."

"Whatever," Annabeth said, "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Thalia swung her arm around Annabeth's shoulders and started walking gods-know-where. Annabeth can tell by the look on Thalia's face that this talk wasn't going to be pleasant.

"What's wrong?" Thalia asked.

Annabeth opened up her mouth to say 'nothing' but Thalia shot her a warning glare. She sighed and looked down to the ground. Thalia store at her best friend in sorrow. It's hurting for her to see her practical sister be all depressed.

"It's that Jackson kid isn't it?" Thalia asked with concern.

Annabeth felt that pang in her heart. The mention of Percy made her want to break down and vent all her feelings to Thalia. How she felt so guilty for ditching Percy last year and didn't even show up to the airport to say bye. Those emotions of guilt and hurt overwhelmed her so much that she sometimes broke down at night. But she can't let herself go in front of Thalia, that's just too embarrassing for Annabeth.

Thalia could tell that Annabeth was holding a million things inside her – just by the way her eyes were clouded and it looked like she was solving a thousand math equations. Thalia knew that Annabeth was debating with her mind. She has seen Annabeth cry before but it was because of her mother issues and Thalia knew how to comfort her on that. But now, it was different. It looked like Annabeth was fighting the urge to cry.

It took two simple words to drive Annabeth over the edge.

"Tell me."

Annabeth hugged Thalia with such force, she had hard time breathing. Thalia embraced her best friend, trying to hush her from her sobbing.

"I don't know where it went all wrong!" Annabeth exclaimed, her voice muffled in Thalia's shoulder. "I-I feel that all this guilt in me is all m-my fault."

"Well, it kind of is. You practically threw yourself all over Luke when Percy was around," Thalia chuckled, trying to calm to situation.

Annabeth took her head out of Thalia's shoulder and looked at her with red, puffy, and shocked eyes. "Why do I come to you, of all people, to vent?" she said, still a bit hurt from Thalia's words – not knowing if that was the truth.

Thalia laughed. "I was kidding. And you come to me because I tell the best advice," she smiled. Then her smile faded when she saw the tears roll down Annabeth's cheeks. "Hey, Annabeth, what had happened between you and Percy, it's all in the past. If there's one thing I know about you two, it's that you guys always make up through the stupidest things. Give it some time. That Kelp Head will come to his senses and realize how stupid he was for leaving you like that."

Annabeth knew she made the right choice when it came to telling someone about what's going on. She smiled and hugged Thalia.

"I miss him _so_ much," Annabeth mumbled in Thalia's shoulder.

* * *

The next day at summer school, Annabeth walked around the school a bit better. Thalia's words really helped her. She had a feeling that Percy would call her and talk about what happened. It was a feeling that Annabeth was sure about.

After school, Annabeth was walking home and passing the park. She held her phone in her hand, just in case. There, she spotted Luke playing basketball with a few friends on the court. She tried hiding her face using her binder and speed-walking across the park. After all this time avoiding Luke, she didn't feel like speaking to him right now. Especially since Percy left, she feels that her guilt was because of Luke too.

"Hey, Annabeth!" Luke shouted out.

Damn it, Annabeth thought. Luke ran up to her and stood in front of her. A smile was spread across his face, stretching the long, white scar going across his face. The scar only brought back memories that Annabeth didn't want to remember.

"Hi Luke," Annabeth greeted, forcing a smile on her face. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Luke replied, "although, I think the real question is 'how are _you'_? You've been avoiding me."

Annabeth blinked and tried coming up with an excuse. "N-no! Of course I wasn't. Things are stirring up at home with step-mom and all that, it's kind of affecting me." Luke knew she was lying but he didn't care about it to ask more.

"All right then," Luke said.

Annabeth pursed her lips and gave a slight nod. She resumed walking home again until Luke called out again.

"Hey, so school's starting in a few weeks. And I was wondering if maybe we could . . . you know . . ." he trailed off.

"I know what?" Annabeth asked, clearly confused.

"I was wondering if you, well, want to go out?"

Annabeth eyes widen in shock – like Luke just asked her to jump off a bridge with him. The guy of her dreams was actually asking her out. Annabeth hasn't really gotten her feelings for Luke straightened out yet, but she did like him – that's for sure. But she didn't know if it was a crush-like or a brotherly-like. She was going it again – debating with her mind whether or not she liked Luke like that.

Soon, she found Luke leaning in to steal a kiss. Annabeth was too caught up in the moment to notice that her phone made a little _click_ sound. Luke planted his lips on Annabeth's. It wasn't soon until Annabeth was actually kissing him back. She enjoyed it – yes – but something about the kiss didn't seem right.

After a few seconds, Annabeth felt the sensation of being watched. She broke the kiss to look around.

"Is something wrong?" Luke asked while trying to lean in for another round.

Annabeth immediately pulled back. "I – uh – have to go. I'm probably late already." Annabeth ran home, leaving Luke confused yet satisfied.

Later that same night, Annabeth laid in her bed – thinking. She thought about her kiss with Luke and how it felt so wrong. It felt almost like she was kissing a relative – which isn't pleasant. Then she looked down at her phone, expecting something. After a whole half an hour of staring at the blank screen of her iPhone, Annabeth sighed. Maybe Percy wouldn't call after all – shucks - she was so sure about it too.

* * *

The next few days of school were spent trying to avoid Luke. The last thing she needed was to face Luke after the incident. She didn't need any more confusion about her own feelings towards him. Luke didn't care though. He got what he wanted for Annabeth, and he knew she would be crawling back for more – so he enjoyed playing her little hard-to-get game.

"What's going on between you and Luke?" Thalia asked during lunch when she noticed Annabeth taking nervous glances at Luke, who was sitting by the "Aphrodite" girls - or in other words, the prettiest girls in the school.

Annabeth looked up, faking a confused expression. "W-what are you talking about? Nothing's going on . . ." she said, stuffing her mouth with a bunch of lettuce.

Thalia eyed Annabeth suspiciously. Then a smirk appeared on her face. "Uh-huh. So you wouldn't mind if I call Luke over, would you?" Thalia started waving her hand in the air like a lunatic. "Hey, Luke! Come over – "

"Will you shut up!" Annabeth said, trying to pull Thalia's hand down.

"Tell me what's going on then," Thalia smirked.

Annabeth grunted. "Luke kissed me," she said, trying to make it hardly audible.

Thalia's eyebrows scrunched up. "He _kissed_ you?"

"Gods, Thalia! Could you be any louder?" Annabeth said, punching her friend on the arm.

Thalia took the punch. "So . . . I don't see the problem here. Is he that bad of a kisser or – "

Annabeth almost choked on her food. "Oh, gods. No, he's fine but when I kissed him, it felt weird. Like I was kissing my brother."

"So . . . you didn't like it?" Thalia asked, still curious about the kiss itself.

"I guess I don't like him that way," Annabeth said, completely ignoring the question. "I mean, I thought I liked him, but after that kiss, I really don't think I do."

A sign of relief showed on Thalia's face but Annabeth didn't notice. A silence washed a over the two friends until Thalia let out a laugh. Annabeth looked at Thalia with confused expression.

"Jeez, Luke must be that bad of a kisser." Thalia joked. A piece of lettuce met her forehead right after.

* * *

August 18th, Percy's thirteenth birthday. Annabeth picked up her iPhone and thought about Iris-Messaging him. Then she thought about Percy hasn't even called her yet. Sure, this was a special day for Percy – especially when only two people know his birthday – but maybe it was too soon for them to talk. Next year will probably be better.

August 18th, Percy's fourteenth birthday. Still no contact with Percy. Annabeth picked up her phone again, thinking about calling Percy to wish him a 'Happy Birthday'. Maybe it's a good time to tell Percy how things are going in New York and how both Nico and Grover can't stop complaining everyday in school about Percy not being there. Then Annabeth thought, maybe he's still having troubles in school over in Hawaii. Maybe it's not a good time to remind him of leaving Nico and Grover. Next year hopefully.

August 18th, Percy's fifteenth birthday. Not talking to Percy for the past three years has been wearing out Annabeth's self-conscious. She picked up her phone, wanting to talk to Percy about what's been going on lately. She wanted to tell Percy how Juniper and Grover are finally together and they look so happy. She wanted to tell him that she got an academic award signed by Barack Obama. She wanted to see him. She wanted to see his sea-green eyes again. It was until she was about to press the Iris app icon, she thought about how he hasn't even bothered to call either. Maybe his life up there was going great and the last thing he needed was bad memories messing it all up. Annabeth set down the iPhone – maybe next year.

August 18th, Percy's sixteenth birthday. It's been four years since they haven't talked – _four years_. The guilt and pain of it has been chewing up on Annabeth for four years. It was so bad that on the final exam for math, Annabeth scored a 99/100. 99 out of 100 answers right. One wrong. This wasn't like her. She has never gotten a not perfect score. All Annabeth has ever wanted was to see Percy again. She wanted his stupid – yet helpful – advice. She wanted to tell him how she confessed to Luke that she only liked him as a brother. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry for how she treated him in middle school. She wanted to tell him how much she missed him and couldn't wait for him to come back. Annabeth started imaging Percy's appearance. His messy black hair and sea-green eyes. She imagined him the same as middle school, just a bit taller. Annabeth was too anxious now. She _needed _to see that Seaweed Brain.

"O, Iris, Goddess of Rainbows, show me Percy Jackson."

_Click. _Annabeth gulped as the saw a blurry image show up on her iPhone screen. Annabeth felt her fingers tremble around her iPhone as the image started to focus. She couldn't wait to see him again. It's been four years, four very, very long years. Annabeth's excitement went high as she saw a figure of someone in front of the screen. But then she noticed that the figure wasn't Percy.

Instead of Percy, there was a girl. She looked 16 and had almond straight hair with amazing eyes that matched it. Her skin was tanned to perfection and lips popped with a light pink shade. It was easy to tell that this girl wore no make-up and yet was so beautiful.

"Who are you and why do you have Percy's phone?" Annabeth asked the girl.

The girl store back with the same expression Annabeth was giving. "Uh, the question is 'who are _you_ and why are _you_ video-calling Percy?'" The girl asked. Her voice was gentle and calm.

"I'm Annabeth – Percy's friend." Annabeth replied.

"He hasn't told me about you."

Annabeth felt her heart drop at those words. Whoever this girl was, she obviously knew Percy very well. And for Percy not to tell this girl about Annabeth hurt. Annabeth couldn't handle this conversation but she had to let Percy know that she was still here.

"Oh. Well, when you see him, tell him I said 'Happy Birthday.'" Annabeth said, fighting the cracking in her voice. A confused expression spread all over the girl's face but before she could say anything, Annabeth closed the call.

If there was one word to explain how Annabeth felt right now, it would be pain. The fact that Percy hasn't mentioned Annabeth to any of his friends in Hawaii hurt her. Did she treat him that bad? All these years, Annabeth's been afraid of calling him and confessing how much she missed him when he didn't even think about her one moment. Annabeth started to consider herself pathetic for actually thinking that Percy would actually think about her. Then there's that girl who answered Percy's phone. She was pretty – beautiful even. To think that Percy hung out with girls like that made Annabeth mad. No wait – that's not the word.

It made Annabeth _jealous_.

* * *

Today's the day. Today's the day that Percy returns to New York. After four long years, he's finally coming back. Nico and Grover are planning some surprise 'Welcome Back' party for Percy when he comes back to school. Annabeth has never really seen Nico so engaged into something like this. He even convinced Thalia to come to it. It was going to be held in Goode High's gym. Word got around that there's going to be some inappropriate teenage beverages there, so the whole school was attending. Even Luke and his passé decided to come, but only to crash it.

Even through all the things that Annabeth has experienced with Percy, she decided to come. But it took a few lectures to finally convince her to come. But the only reason why she agreed to come was because she couldn't wait to see him. All the self-pity that Annabeth was feeling eventually turned into anger. She needed to give Percy a piece of her mind. How he has made Annabeth feel so confused for the past four years. And Annabeth _hates_ being confused. She hates not knowing answers and she definitely _hates_ not getting perfect scores on her tests.

Perseus Jackson will pay, Annabeth thought as she got ready for the surprise party.

* * *

**PJO Characters belong to Rick Riordan**

* * *

**HA. You guys probably thought this was the chapter you all was anxious for. Well, sorry, I decided to be a troll and make a little teaser chapter. TEASER CHAPTERS FTW. Don't you hate when authors do that (*Ahem, Rick Riordan)? Lol, jk, I love him - well his books anyways.  
**

**So yes, the kiss was real. Woohooo. ~.~  
**

**Hopefully this answered most of your questions on why Annabeth was being such a gerk (girl jerk) towards Percy.  
**

**Review if you can't wait till the next chapter! :D Review your ideas/suggestions. You guys have been giving me good ideas so far but most of them are way too predictable and used in a lot of stories particular to this one. Be SPONTANEOUS. I'm starting to use that word a lot. Vocabulary improvement ftw. So yes, REVIEW, subscribe, favorite, or whatever tickles your pickle.  
**

**- Breana  
**


	7. Surprise

_Surprise_

* * *

"Home at last!" Sally exclaimed and dropped her luggage to fall onto the couch in the living room. Percy sighed and walked into their old living room and dropped his bags too so that he could join his mom on the couch.

_This is it_, Percy thought, _back in New York_. He hasn't really contacted anyone here except for Rachel. Percy only mailed Grover and Nico a few times a year since he was gone. Then there's Annabeth. They haven't talked since the incident in the rain and she was only brought up by Calypso on his 16th birthday. That also made Percy confused. Of all the years Percy has been gone, Annabeth chooses his last year in Hawaii to finally call? And for the past 4 birthdays, on his 16th was the one where she finally decided to call? Girls are way too complicated.

Percy's face probably showed something to catch Sally's attention. "Uh-oh," Sally suddenly said. "I know that look. What's wrong, baby?"

She grabbed a hold of Percy's hands in hers. He sighed. If there's one person to tell everything to and seek advice, it's Sally Jackson. Percy loved her with all his heart and as much as he hated it, she knew when something was wrong with him. He has no other choice but to tell her what's wrong.

"Being back here . . . that's the problem. I feel like I'm revisiting a nightmare," Percy said.

Sally sighed. "Percy, hun, things weren't _that_ bad back then."

"They weren't. Until seventh grade, things went downhill from there."

Sally knew that. She noticed a sudden change in behavior with Percy in his seventh year in school. She thought it was a normal transformation thing, but to see Percy like this, maybe she was wrong. Now she wanted to know.

"Talk to me, Percy," Sally and leaned back in the couch while Percy leaned onto her shoulder.

Percy sighed and closed his eyes, enjoying his mother's hands massaging his head. "What if Nico and Grover changed. Who do I have left?"

Sally let out a small laugh. "Hun, I don't think you have to worry about Nico and Grover. They're your best friends. And you still have Annabeth."

An aching feeling arrived when Sally said her name.

"I'm not so sure about that," Percy said, referring to still having Annabeth as a friend. The uneasiness of being back in New York increased as he started to think about facing her again. The last image he had of her was in the rain – well, asides her kissing Luke, which by the way, he convinced himself it was a dream.

Seeing Percy's sad expression spread all over his face, Sally decided it was time. She took his hands into hers and kissed his hand. Percy was going to protest but he needed the comfort of his mother right now.

. Sally sighed. "You remind me a lot of your father."

Percy's eyes widen. He has never heard about his father before. Never. All he knows is that he walked out on his mom before Percy was even born yet. When he was young, he would ask Sally about his dad, but Sally would just give a half-hearted smile and change the subject. After years, Percy gave up trying to find out more. His father abandoned his own family, didn't support them at all, and was a plain jerk. That's all Percy needed to know. It was surprising that Sally brought him up now.

Percy stayed silent but still shocked. He took his mother's statement offensively. Sally felt the stiffness of Percy when she said it.

"You have his eyes. I swear, every time I look at you, I can see him," she said while getting a good look at her son. Percy gave a disgusted look. "Your father was a good man, Perce. He was charming, loyal, and sweet. I love – "

"Mom, you don't have to talk about him, okay?" Percy interrupted.

"But I want to, Percy. What I'm trying to say is that in all good people, there's always a flaw. As perfect as I saw your father, there's one thing that he had that I see in you right now. And that's being unforgiving. Your father had a troubled relationship with his two brothers. They all fought for a head-spot over their _Olympus_ Company."

"You're saying that my father owned the number one business in America?" Percy asked a bit impressed.

"Well he did, until your uncle finally won over the spot. Your other uncle ended up starting his own business – The Underworld Inc. And your father worked for your uncle. Ever since he lost his spot, he's held this grudge against his brother and it went downhill from there. According to business policies, head-employees are not to have 'secret-relationships' with people outside of the company. Your father was a head-employee so . . ."

"He couldn't be with you. Then he met you and young puppy love – I get it," Percy said, not wanting to know the whole story leading to the making of Percy.

Sally smiled sheepishly. "Right. So when I got pregnant with you, your uncle was going to send agents to take you away."

"Why?" he asked. Why would his own uncle do that to his nephew?

"Well, you were considered a threat to Olympus's reputation. If the press found out, suspicious would rise and serious things would've taken place between the employees. Your father loved you too much for them to take you away. So he left before you were born and confronted his brother, saying that you weren't his and he never met me. Eventually, your uncle let it go and they continued their lives still clashing heads together."

It took a while for Percy to process what his mother has just told him. His father left him for protection. It takes a real man to sacrifice his love for his child for his safety. Now Percy understood why his father left and he's grateful for it. All those first impressions that Percy had on him was now gone. Without his father's actions, Percy would be with another family and not Sally. But something still bothered Percy.

"So what is the point of this story?" Percy asked.

"Well, first, I know I haven't told you much about your father and I hope this helps you change your impression on him," Sally replied.

Percy scoffed. "It sure does."

Then Sally turned her head to face Percy. She looked him straight in the eye. "And just like your father, you are unforgiving. Because of this, he lost his relationship with his own brother and you are losing your friendship with Annabeth. Whatever went down between you two, I want you to forgive her. It'll take time, but don't take advantage of that time. Your friendship with her is too good to lose, Perseus."

Percy slowly nodded his head. He knew his mom's right. As much as he hates what happened between him and Annabeth, losing her is the last thing he wants.

"Well, all right then," Sally said and shot up to go to the kitchen. Before she did, she gave Percy a kiss on the forehead. When she was about to enter the kitchen, she looked like she remembered something. "Oh, right! Later this evening, you have to go to the school and pick up some paperwork for the school year."

There was a tone in her voice that made Percy a little suspicious but ignored it anyways. Percy closed his eyes and fell into a little nap. After everything that's been going on lately, this nap was really needed.

* * *

Annabeth threw on a pair of skinny-jeans and a gray blouse that hung loosely off her shoulders. She brushed her hair thoroughly and let her blonde curls fall down her back. As she was about to leave the front door, she noticed that her phone was nowhere in sight. Annabeth started to go on a full-out investigation to search for her phone. She told Bobby and Matthew – her twin brothers – to search too. After 15 minutes, Annabeth started to get frustrated as she noticed that she was going to be late for the setting up of the party.

When all hope seemed to fade, Annabeth's step-mom came into the living room with a familiar grey-cased iPhone in her hand. Annabeth sighed in relief. As Annabeth reached to retrieve her phone, her step-mom pulled away.

"Can I have my phone?" Annabeth asked in annoyance.

"Wherever you are planning on going, cancel plans," her step-mom said.

Annabeth scrunched her eyebrows like she always does when she's annoyed. "What?"

"Cancel your plans for tonight. Your father and I are going out to a conference. You're watching the twins," she said as a statement instead of a question.

Annabeth scoffed. "Dad?" She tried using her dad to get out of this situation. Fredrick looked uneasy between the two women in front of him.

He turned to his wife. "She hasn't seen the boy in four years, hunny."

Annabeth smirked when she saw her step-mom glare at him. Her smirk immediately disappeared when her dad was starting to shiver under her death-glare.

Once Fredrick turned to face Annabeth, she knew she lose the conversation. "I'm sure you can wait one more night."

Annabeth's step-mom gave a little grin that annoyed the living life out of Annabeth. She tossed the phone and Annabeth caught it easily, giving a sarcastic smile. She let out a groan of annoyance when her parents exited the house. Just to make it worst, her two 4 year-old brothers came running into the living room.

"Not now!" Annabeth shouted when Bobby started to jump on the couch that Annabeth was laying on.

"Don't bwe such a souwr pwuss!" Matthew exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

Annabeth rubbed her temples to relief the stress. She dialed the number of her best friend.

"Hello?" Thalia greeted from the other side of the line.

"Hey, Thals, it's Annabeth. Can't make it to the party tonight. Parents are out and I have to watch the twins," Annabeth said and then she heard Thalia groan.

"Great. Well, do you want me to come over then?" Thalia asked.

"No, no. I'm fine. You go there – have fun," Annabeth replied.

Thalia sighed. "Fine. See you tomorrow then." The call ended before Annabeth could even say bye.

* * *

"Drinks?"

"Check."

"Snacks?"

"Check."

"Banner?"

"Check."

"Balloons?"

"Nico, we don't even have balloons."

"We need balloons then."

Grover groaned as Nico started to check down the list of things for the party. He hasn't really seen Nico so engaged into something. It started to freak Grover out because Nico looked like he hasn't slept in two days – probably planning the whole thing. Sure, he was excited to see his best friend again, but throwing a party is crossing the line.

"Stop looking at me like that," Nico said, a little creeped out when he saw Grover staring at him.

"Sorry," Grover mumbled.

Nico took a good look around at his work. The gym was filled with hanging streamers, a little stage for the band to play, a long table filled with food and beverages, and a blue disco ball hanging from the ceiling so that it makes the gym glisten in blue lights. Near the entrance hung a big banner saying "WELCOME BACK".

After a few minutes, Nico frowned. "It needs balloons!"

It was six in the evening and people started to enter the gym. Most of them seemed to not care about what or who the party was for but seemed more interested in the beverage on the table. Music was blasting and students started to dance a bit more inappropriate than school policy says.

"Where's Percy?" Nico asked worriedly as he glanced at his watch to see that it was already 30 minutes into the party.

"Sally just sent a text. She said that he's on his way over," Grover replied, trying to calm his impatient friend.

* * *

Percy hopped out of the shower. He put on a pair of loose skinny jeans, a white fitting v-neck, and a pair of blue converse. Sally was acting a little suspicious after she told him to go pick up the paperwork at the school.

It was six and the sky was already showing a lack of sunlight. It was about a 30-minute walk to the school so he should make it back on time before it gets too late. Before Percy left the apartment, Sally tossed him a blue hoodie.

"We're not in Hawaii anymore. It's going to be cold out there," Sally warned. "Do you have your phone with you?"

"I'm just walking there and coming back, Mom. I'll be all right," Percy complained.

"I know, but just in case something comes up," Sally said, trying to hold back a smile.

"Okay . . ." Percy said slowly and closed the apartment door behind him as he exited.

Percy was walking when suddenly he found his heart beating faster at each step. High school, he thought. His years in Hawaii were easier but now he was entering high school in New York as a senior. Entering in senior year is scarier than entering freshman year – way scarier. Then there's the fact of seeing everyone else and let history repeat itself. Percy was the underdog in school – the kid who got pushed around and everyone thought that didn't exist. Percy could be that again. Or that's what he thought.

About 10-minutes or so, Percy finally reached Goode High. He noticed that there was a lot of cars parked in the parking lot of the school and students walking in and out of the gym. Percy made a mental note to go check out what's going on there. But for now, his mind was focused on the office.

Percy entered the principal's office to be greeted by a big man with a white beard and combed brown hair with white streaks. The man was too busy behind the computer on his desk to realize that Percy walked in.

Percy cleared his throat to try to get his attention, but it didn't work. "Uh, hi, I'm Percy Jackson, the transfer student."

The man continued to work behind the computer.

"I'm here to – uh – pick up the paperwork for the school year," Percy said uneasily.

A few minutes passed and the man behind the desk was still not responding. Percy's fingers started to fidget uncontrollably. He cursed mentally when his ADHD started acting up.

"Sir, just please give me the stupid paperwork!" Percy snapped without him noticing soon enough to stop himself.

The man looked up at Percy with shocked eyes. "Excuse me, young boy?" The man's voice was very low and scratchy.

Percy gulped hard. Curse his stupid ADHD. "I'm Percy Jackson, the tr – "

The man scoffed. "Yeah, I know who you are. Just another pretty boy in this school. Here," he said, handing Percy a folder full of papers. "By the way, I'm Mr. Kennedy – the principal."

"Percy," he introduced back, sticking his out for a handshake. Mr. Kennedy ignored the gesture and continued on his computer again. Percy awkwardly brought his hand back to his pocket. "So – um – what's going on in the gym?"

Mr. Kennedy shrugged. "Students throwing some party for this Jenson boy, I don't know. Go check it out yourself, smartness."

Percy exited the office, a bit held back at what just happened. There goes his chance on impressing the principal of the school. Then he found himself walking towards the gym. Time to check out what's going on here, Percy thought.

* * *

"Where is he?" Nico asked, clearly bored as they hid behind a table.

"He should be here by now. Maybe he's at the office still," Grover said.

The two friends were crouched behind one of the tables. For some miracle reason, Nico got everyone to hide somewhere in the gym so that when Percy enters, they would all surprise him. No one knew who Percy was but decided to go with it.

Minutes passed until people started to get up from their spots and start to leave.

"This party is a total bomb," Thalia said when crouching between Grover and Nico.

Nico stiffened a bit. "You think I don't know that. I can actually see people going," he stated, annoyed.

"Well, do something about it, Death Breath," Thalia retorted back.

Grover decided to chime in. "Hey, now arguing isn't going to solve – "

Thalia and Nico shot Grover a warning glare. He gulped once before shutting up.

"Tell that Kelp Head to hurry up and get over here," Thalia told Nico. Before Nico could answer, a voice from behind them interrupted.

"So, who's the party for?" the voice asked.

Nico took a glance at the person and looked back towards the entrance of the gym. "It's for a friend -" Thalia and Grover looked behind them to see who it was but they didn't turn back around like Nico.

" – Obviously an uncommitted friend who won't even show up to his own stupid party, which – by the way – I have been planning for the last 4 weeks for. I swear, if I see him tomorrow, he's going to be – "

"Shut up, Death Breath, and turn around," Thalia said.

"What is it now? Can't you see I'm busy," Nico turned around to the stranger behind them. A tall, tanned, and muscular teen with black hair smiled, showing off his perfect straight-white teeth. "And you are?"

The boy's smile faded. Thalia and Grover looked at Nico like he was the stupidest person on earth. Nico store back at them and gave an awkward look. Grover rolled his eyes and shook the stranger's hand.

"It's good to see you again, man," Grover said to him.

"You know him?" Nico asked Grover.

"It's nice to see you again, G-man," the stranger replied.

"Wait. No one ever calls Grover 'G-man' except for – " Nico looked like a ball just hit him in the face when one of the lights shined on Percy's face, showing off his sea-green eyes.

"Percy?" Nico gasped.

"Congrats, Sherlock," Thalia chimed in sarcastically.

Nico ignored her sarcastic remark because he was too shocked at the stranger in front of him whose name was Percy Jackson – his best friend. It looked like this guy has eaten the old Percy. Nico started to get suspicious.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" Nico asked, examining Percy.

"Really, Nico?" Grover asked.

Nico stepped about six feet away from Percy and started to walk around him. "There's no way . . . Alien." He predicted.

Thalia sighed and punched the bridge of her nose using her pointer and thumb. "I don't understand how you tolerate this kid."

Grover and Percy shared a little glance with each other and then Nico. They both shrugged, "Years of practice."

"Okay, pretty boy. Tell me something only the real Percy would know," Nico challenged.

Percy smirked. "Fine. When we were in sixth grade, I remember you coming over my house and you were a bit different. Then on that day, you told me about your unconditional love for Thalia Grace. You said that she was assigned as your 'big buddy' for school and throughout the tour, all you could focus on was her –"

"Okay! That's enough! You're the real Percy all right," Nico said, embarrassed when Grover started cracking up and Thalia gave an uncomfortable expression.

Nico gave Percy a big man-hug. Percy was impressed by Nico's image. He has gotten much taller and looked like he matured way more – well, physically anyways. He grew out his black hair so that it hung lower than before. He was still pale as ever but a bit better built than four years ago. The same case was for Grover. He has grown taller, still tanned, and wore his famous reggae beanie. Except now, he had a little goatee that was visible.

Nico escaped from the hug when he noticed that everyone was starting to leave the party. He ran up to the stage and took the mic from the lead singer.

"Hey, guys! Don't leave yet! Percy's here and he wants to say a few words," Nico announced. Everyone turned their attention to the stage now.

Percy looked at Nico like he was crazy. This wasn't the plan at all but Nico had to come up with something to stop everyone from leaving. Nico had a little eye-argument with Percy before Percy finally came up onto the stage.

Everyone's attention was definitely on the stage now. People from the outside started coming back inside. All attention was on Percy, especially the girls. Their mouths hung low – literally.

All this attention was out of Percy's comfort zone. It made him nervous and speaking when you're nervous doesn't work. He started examining the crowd. He noticed almost everyone. The kids who picked on him or teased him before were now giving him wide-eyes. The kids who didn't even know he existed looked like they just say a ghost. Percy ignored those eyes, but was looking for one pair in particular. He didn't see them, which made him hurt a little.

Percy saw that everyone else was still staring. He cleared his throat and brought the microphone to his lips.

"Uh, hey," he started lamely, earning laughter from the crowd. Once they all died down, Percy continued. "Thank you all for coming to my party. I guess it means a lot so yeah. Drive home safely and I can't wait for this school year with you guys."

The crowd cheered and raised their cups. Percy saw a lot of girls checking him out from head to toe and some boys still staring at him unsurely. It was surprising to see the Aphrodite girls mumbling in a circle and taking long glances at him. Percy stepped off the stage and made his way to Nico, Grover, and Thalia.

On his way, he passed by groups of people who gave him a "Welcome back, Percy", pat on the back, handshake, wink, or in some cases, phone numbers. It took a while to actually reach the three but he eventually got through the crowd.

Nico scoffed when he saw Percy with a bunch of papers in his hand. "Big shot."

Percy smirked, liking all the attention he was getting.

* * *

After the party, Percy told the others that he was going to walk home. It was dark already and the streets were cleared and quiet. Percy stuck in his earphones to listen some music while walking. While changing the song, he felt something cover his mouth. It reeked with a strong smell and made Percy's head go dizzy. Soon, Percy felt his eyelids go heavy and soon knocked out.

Oh, chlorophyll.

Percy woke up and took a look around. It was too dark to see anything. He was sitting on a chair and his hands were tied behind the back. Percy closed his eyes, hoping that he would wake up again in his bed. He counted to three before opening his eyes again.

Nope, still tied up in a chair in a dark place.

"It's not a dream, if that's what you're trying to accomplish," a voice said. Percy clearly recognized that voice.

"Luke," Percy growled.

Luke emerged out of the darkness like it was his cue. In his hands were a steel bat and a cloth that was used to knock Percy out. One thing caught Percy's eyes, and that was the scar that stretched across Luke's face.

Percy did the stupidest thing he could do in this situation. He laughed.

"D-did I-I-I d-do th-that to you?" Percy breathed.

Luke growled. "You think this is funny, Jackson?"

"Just a little," Percy replied, earning self-confidence from left field.

Luke smirked and raised his fist and whipped it to join Percy's face. Percy groaned in pain as the side of face throbbed in pain. Luke let out a loud laugh.

"I have to say, Jackson, I'm impressed. Though, you still can't be the best," Luke said while giving another jab at Percy's abdomen.

It went on for a while. The pain eventually numbed Percy's body, making the later hits pointless.

Luke cracked his knuckles. "I got to admit, it was kind of boring beating the other punks for the past few years without you."

That drove Percy way over the line. Anger boiled deep down and he found himself trying to escape the tape that tied his hands together.

"This is so worth it, though," Luke said and raised his bat. The bat already made contact when Percy ripped off the tape that restrained his hands.

* * *

Annabeth was in the kitchen cooking dinner when Thalia called her phone. Annabeth turned off the oven before answering the phone.

"Hello?"

"Annabeth, please come here. I came on time but he's just not looking okay. He's beaten and I don't know what to do!" Thalia said worriedly.

"Whoa, Thals, slow down. What happened?" Annabeth asked.

"Just get over here now. He's really injured, Annabeth – don't move! – please hurry." Thalia said. Annabeth heard a boy's voice groan in the background and sirens too.

"Where are you?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

"Across Starbucks. In that alley-way."

"Okay, I'll be right there," Annabeth said and hung up. She threw on a jacket and converse. She cursed when she forgot about her two brothers.

Annabeth saw the twins engaged into a show on TV. She silently prayed that they wouldn't notice that she was gone for a bit. She stole the keys to her father's Nisan and drove off. Thoughts started entering her mind when she heard how worried Thalia sounded. She rarely heard her like that, which made Annabeth panic. So many possibilities came up but then she remembered that it was already after Percy's party. She started to worry about what may have happened to that Seaweed Brain.

The grip on the wheel hardened as she turned the corner to the destination Thalia has told her. It looked like hell broke loose here. There were police cars everywhere flashing their lights and ambulance. A crowd formed around the crime-scene. Annabeth parked her car and got out. She rushed to the scene, ignoring everyone and all the policemen trying to stop her from entering the scene.

"Annabeth?" someone familiar asked.

Annabeth turned around. "Ms. Jackson?"

"Oh, gods, Annabeth!" Sally embraced her. "It's so good to see you again."

"Not to be rude or anything, Ms. Jackson. But right now, what's going on?" Annabeth asked.

Sally's face fell again. Before she could answer, someone else familiar called out.

"Annie!"

"Thalia?" Annabeth searched for her voice.

"Over here," Thalia called out. Annabeth found her kneeling next to someone but her body was blocking the face of the person. The person was laying down on the ground and paramedics surrounded him with a bunch of kits. Thalia and Annabeth's eyes locked and Thalia gave an unsure look.

That look made Annabeth rush over to Thalia. She kneeled down by Thalia and took a look at the boy sprawled on the floor. The sight made Annabeth want to throw up. She fought the feeling to gag and examined the boy. He was badly beaten up. Cuts and bruises covered his whole body and blood stained his shirt. It was so bad that Annabeth could barely recognize him.

But when she did, she gasped in horror. "Luke?"

The boy gave a slight nod. It looked like it hurt to even give such little movement. Annabeth fought the urge to break down into a mental state right now. Instead, her protective mode switch flipped on.

"Who the hell did this to you?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia shifted uncomfortably when she asked that. She knew something was going to go down when Luke told her who. Luke struggled to lift his hand to point in the direction of the attacker.

Annabeth followed the direction of where his finer was pointing. When she did, she saw two cops' backs facing her and they looked like they were questioning someone in front of them. Annabeth watched as the cops jotted down notes in their notepad as they asked the person questions. The person pushed past through the two cops.

"I'm telling you that he attacked me first!" He exclaimed at the cops.

Annabeth took a good look at the back of the boy. He was tall, well-built, and had black-longish hair. He wore a pair or loose skinny jeans and a white tee that was stained in patches of blood. Annabeth stood up and walked towards the jerk that beat up Luke.

The boy turned around and stopped dead in his tracks. Annabeth stopped too as she saw how bad he was beaten up. He had bruises and scratches all over his face but they weren't as bad as Luke's. His eyes locked on Annabeth's. She found herself staring at his eyes too. All the hate that Annabeth fist felt towards this boy washed away. His eyes were sea-green and resembled the deep ocean. But when he saw her, they brightened up and calmed. Annabeth was clearly shocked at what she was seeing.

"Perseus Jackson." Annabeth addressed.

"Uh, surprise?" The boy replied.

* * *

**Characters belong to Rick Riordan**

* * *

**Let me start this AN saying that CHANNING TATUM IS SOOO FINE. I went to go watch Magic Mike on Friday, omg, hotness overload. Review if you agree. Lol, okay back to the story.  
**

**Um, this chapter is dedicated to SugarisHEALTHY. You're the one who puts long-ass reviews on this story and like you said, you rarely do that, so I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your awesome feedback and suggestion (which I did use just for you.)  
**

**So most of you probably already hate me for making Percabeth complicated. But that's okay, because I'll make you looooove me in the next few chapters or so. Idk. Let's just see how it goes, okay :D  
**

**Nico needs his balloons, man.  
**

**REVIEW pwease. Happy July 1st! New month, yay! Okay, review, subscribe, favorite, or whatever tickles your pickle!  
**

**- Channing Tatum's Wife, Breana  
**


	8. Catching Up

**So people were disappointed about the last chapter and since it was 4th of July, I've decided to summon out the troll hidden within me. Enjoy~  
**

_Catching Up_

* * *

"What happened?" One cop asked.

"He knocked me out with chloroform and started beating me," Percy replied.

"And you fought back?" The other cop asked.

Percy growled lowly. "Of course I fought back."

The both cops glanced at each other skeptically. The cop with a mustache gave Percy a stink-eye before writing into his notepad. Percy could tell that the cops still didn't believe him. Sure, he beat Luke more than he anticipated, but he didn't start it.

The cop writing down the notes put down his pen. He gave Percy a deathly glare that could intimidate anyone but Percy. Years of death-glares from Annabeth has numbed him to this.

"You realize that if you're lying to us now, your consequences will be far worst," the cop told Percy.

Percy couldn't take it. He was finished talking to these cops. "I'm telling you that he attacked me first!" He exclaimed in an annoyed tone. Percy pushed passed the two cops, ignoring the fact that he could get in trouble for doing so.

Just when he was about to walk out of the scene, he caught a glimpse of someone that made him stop stiff in his spot. He examined her. She was about the same height as him, maybe an inch or two shorter. Tanned, athletic-looking, curly blonde hair that was tied into a messy ponytail that suited her nice – she was pretty. Well, pretty is an understatement, really, but you get the point. Then it's the eyes that caught Percy's attention. The grey, stunning eyes that he most definitely recognizes. Percy found himself locking eyes with her.

She store back at him in amazement. It was a look that Percy has gotten used to from the party, but this time, he felt a warming sensation creep his cheeks. He fought the urge to blush. They continued to look at each other, both probably showing the same facial expression. Shock, confusion, guilt, the list goes on. But Percy couldn't help but notice the tiredness that Annabeth showed. She looked like she hasn't slept in the past four years –technically speaking. She looked a little paler.

After what seemed like forever, realization finally glinted in her eyes. At that same moment, Percy caught up to the situation. Here he was, after four years, involved in a crime-scene that made him look like the suspect. Ha, déjà vu.

"Perseus Jackson," Annabeth said. It came out sounding like surprise, anger, confusion, and relief.

Percy being himself, all that came out was, "Uh, surprise?"

He mentally slapped himself for saying that. Annabeth's expression went from confusion/surprise to straight up annoyance. Percy expected a retort, slap, punch, scoff, or anything to show that Annabeth was still the same. Instead, Annabeth pursed her lips and turned around to walk to Luke.

Well that was unexpected. Percy was shocked that Annabeth didn't even yell at him. It was too strange to let go of, so he went after her and tried grasping her wrists.

"Annabeth, wait," Percy pleaded. Once his hand made contact with hers, she immediately spun around and pulled her hand away from his. "Just let me explain."

"Four years. Four freaking years, Percy! Some things haven't changed about you, huh?" Annabeth almost screamed.

Percy was taken back. _She still believes that Luke is innocent?_ Percy thought. This was seriously wrong timing. He started to doubt his fate – what did he do to deserve all this? He was hurt that Annabeth was still backing up Luke. All that jealousy, patience, and hurt that he has been experience lately just let out. There's ways that he could've expressed how he felt. But it came out sort of like this.

"You're right. And some things _still_ haven't changed about you either," Percy hissed.

Annabeth's eyes widen. She couldn't believe that he actually had the confidence to say that in front of her. She wanted to hear no more from him, so she simply turned around. Percy felt that thing in the bottom of his stomach again. He just got back and all this drama is already starting. He reached for Annabeth's again – maybe he can explain everything.

But Annabeth didn't want anything from him right now. She just wanted to make sure Luke was okay. Pulling her hand away, she gave Percy a harsh glare. "Just leave," she told him, voice filled with venom.

* * *

Percy stormed into the apartment with his mother trailing cautiously behind. All Percy could think was why all this was happening to him? Why did Annabeth have to come when all that was happening? Of all the days that Luke has to pick on him, why today? Thoughts ran in his head like a marathon.

"Sweetie, please calm down." Sally said she saw Percy pacing the room, fuming.

Percy started going off and talking so fast that it sounded gibberish. He never felt this angry before. It was like a fuse was set off inside him. He couldn't explain where the anger was coming from, it was just present. The anger overwhelmed him too much that he didn't even realize that he snapped back at his mother when she asked him to calm down.

"Hunny, just wash up and sleep. We'll talk about this later," Sally instructed, sounding surprisingly calm about the whole situation.

Without saying anymore, Percy went to his old room and swung the door open. He disregarded the fact that the room was painted white with a bunch of make-up scattered everywhere and went straight to his bed. He didn't even bother to take off his shirt which had blood stains all over. Percy didn't care. He just wanted to go sleep and hope that this year goes by fast.

Before he went to sleep, he felt a hand brush the left side of his face and lips placed on his forehead.

"We'll get through this, Perseus." It's that kind of advice that comes from a loving mother that drains all worries and puts him to sleep.

* * *

This had to be the worst weekend ever for Percy. Yesterday was just a dump, today he's going to have to go to the office to discuss some things, and tomorrow is his first day at Goode High. Percy didn't think too much about it, though, because the water trickling down his body distracted him. After a few minutes of just standing in the shower, he finally reached towards the handle to turn it off.

Percy got ready to go to the school for some important reason – according to Sally. He put on a pair of fitting jeans and green-blue sweater. He tied the Hawaiian hook that Rachel gave him around his neck. After finishing up himself, he continued his way to the living room. Sally soon entered, looking happier than expected since everything was going crazy now.

On the way to the school was awkward. The radio wasn't on because – well – there was nothing but commercials. The silence started to get Percy nervous. What if he can't attend school because of the incident yesterday? The anxiety that Percy was experiencing was interrupted.

"I have good news," Sally said.

"Does it involve what happened last night?" Percy asked, curious.

Sally smiled. "Actually it does."

Percy shot his mother a half-half stare. One being serious and one being a joke. She laughed. "The police got a hold of a surveillance camera that was located across the street of the alley. They said that it will most likely show what happened last night."

Happiness built up inside of Percy. He can finally bring that jerk, Luke, to justice and could prove his innocence to Annabeth. "That's great," Percy smiled. Sally smiled back at her son and gave him a little ruffle of his hair, earning a groan.

Percy and Sally finally arrived at the school and Percy was feeling more confident. But as soon as it came, it left when they entered the principal's office. The same man was there from yesterday, except now his full attention was on him.

"Hello, Ms. Jackson. I'm Mr. Kennedy, the principal of Goode High," the man greeted and shook Sally's hand.

"Please, call me Sally," she insisted. Mr. Kennedy gave a prolonged smile that creeped Percy out a lot.

"Ah, yes, Sally. And this must be your son, Perseus Jackson – "

"Percy," Percy corrected through gritted teeth.

Mr. Kennedy ignored the troubled student and took a seat behind his desk. Percy also took a seat and so did Sally. While flipping through paperwork on Mr. Kennedy's desk, Percy gave Sally a nervous glance. She eyed him suspiciously.

"So I see that Percy's athletic history is very intact," Mr. Kennedy stated, interrupting the mother-son moment.

Sally's attention shifted to the paperwork sprawled all over the desk. "That's correct. My son has participated in many surf competitions."

Mr. Kennedy nodded and mumbled something like: "whatever."

He started going through more paperwork in Percy's file and then again, glances were exchanged between Sally and Percy. Mr. Kennedy had a hold of a clean, yellow paper and examined it. He gave a few "tsk" and head shakes.

"Is there a problem?" Sally asked in concern.

"It seems that your son has been maintaining a low C average," Mr. Kennedy replied.

Sally pursed her lips, expecting the upcoming news. "I understand that, sir, but – you see – Percy is diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia and it's hard for him – "

"Yes, I know about your sons . . . issues," Mr. Kennedy stated, earning a glare from Percy, "but if he doesn't raise his grade in math and English, I'm afraid that he can't graduate with his class."

"What?" Percy gasped. Before he could defend his pride, Sally gave him a warning look. He descended back into his seat, growling lowly like a angry dog.

Sally sighed. "Is there any way that help to raise his grades?"

Mr. Kennedy thought for a moment and he examined Percy slowly. "Given his diagnostics, I can sign him up for special-ed classes."

"No!" Percy interrupted. He was on edge of his seat and Sally shot another warning glare. But instead of shying out under the stare, he looked straight into her eyes. "Mom, I'm going to be a senior. I don't want to be treated like there's something wrong with me."

"Well, technically, there is a couple things wrong with – "

Sally glared at Mr. Kennedy whom shut his babbling mouth. "Is there any other help that Percy can receive?"

Thinking for a bit, Mr. Kennedy sighed. "Well there are private tutors that I can assign to him. But you're going to have to fit into their schedule and pay them for it."

Percy stayed silent and Sally didn't bother to hesitate. "That's fine."

"Great. So that's about it then. I'll email you the information," the principal concluded.

"Thank you," Sally said and walked out the office with Percy walking aside her. Percy was too nervous to speak about his grades. Sure, his ADHD and dyslexia has always come in the way, but it was the fact that going out to the beach a lot that made him procrastinate. He never did Keoki them about it because they wouldn't hang with him anymore. So he spent time hanging out with them, making them think that he was doing fine in school. Though, he wasn't. The school he attended in Hawaii didn't have Greek like his middle school in New York so it was hard to be good in any class.

Math and English were Percy's major struggles. This is where his ADHD acted up the most. The complicated numbers and formulas in math were jumbled up and so where the letters in English. Sometimes Percy excused himself to go to the bathroom just to get away from all of it.

Percy's hidden thoughts were soon interrupted when his mom opened the car door for him. He entered the car, silently and slowly. The whole drive home was a bit awkward. Percy was nervous of telling his mom the truth about the reason about his grade drop in Hawaii. Sally was nervous that her son wouldn't be able to graduate. Both of them kept their mouth shut, though.

When they finally got to the apartment, Percy took out his phone and dialed the one person to talk to when he's in this kind of situation. Oh, wait, she's too busy doing something else with that jerk – Luke. Percy dialed again and called it.

"Hello?" someone answered from the other end of the line.

"Hey, Grover, I need to talk to you."

* * *

"Just leave," she said with so much hurt in her voice. As much as it hurt saying those words, nothing compared to his expression. Percy looked like he got hit by a train. Eyes were wide open, skin paler, and mouth hung open. Annabeth wanted to take it all back and run to him to hug him. But all the hurt and betrayal held her back. She expected him to try to explain himself, but no, he angrily walked away with his back facing her.

Confusion replaced anger. Then something else happened. Percy got knocked out cold. She watched as his body fell straight to the floor. Above her best friend's body stood another boy.

"Luke?" Annabeth asked in shock.

Luke smirked, showing off his scar again. He raised the bat again to take another strike at Percy's body.

Annabeth reached out as an instinct to stop the attack. "No – "

Breathing heavily, Annabeth groaned as her head pounded and back ached. She sat up from the very uncomfortable couch and surveyed her surroundings. White walls, bright lights, clean floors, and the smell of illness – still in the hospital all right. She tried pushing that ridiculous dream out of her head. Luke would never do such thing to Percy. But something about it bothered her.

She got up from her seat and went to Luke's room. Upon entering, she already saw all the wires and bandages that were all over his busted body. Luke's chest slightly rose and fell in a slow pattern. There were beeping noises coming from the heart-monitor.

"Hey," Luke managed to say, or mumble.

Annabeth smiled and sat next to his bed. "Hey, how are you?"

The corner of his mouth lifted. "Hanging in there," he replied.

She smiled wider and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Would you mind if I ask you something?"

"I'm all yours."

Annabeth sighed. "What were you doing in the alley last night? You know it's dangerous over there at night." Luke stiffened for a moment and it got Annabeth scared and suspicious at the same time. Before Luke could even speak his lie, someone burst through the doors.

"Luke Castellan?" They asked.

Annabeth turned around to face the offender. Her eyebrows scrunched together. The man was wearing a classy tux. She has never seen this man before. "And you are?" Annabeth asked the man.

The man reached into his tux and took out a badge with familiar encryptions on it. "Cameron Jude, investigator of New York Police Department. You are in deep trouble, mister." Attention was on Luke now. Both him and Annabeth were probably showing the same facial expression – shock.

"Ma'am, I'm going to need to ask you to exit the room, please." Agent Jude commanded, guiding Annabeth out of the room. Without even saying goodbye, the door slammed in her face.

Well that was just rude. Annabeth thought about leaving, but then she thought that Luke is in trouble. It had to do to with what happen last night. Being curious, Annabeth laid her ear on the door, concentrating on what was going on in the room.

" – I'm giving you one more chance, Luke. Tell the truth and the charges pressed against you will not be so bad if you lie to me."

Charges? Who pressed charges against the victim? The tone of the agent's voice gave away that this whole dilemma that Luke was in was defiantly very serious. Annabeth concentrated even harder to try to make out what Luke was saying.

"I don't know what you're talking about . . ." Luke groaned.

"We have the tape, Luke. We have all the evidence we need to put you in jail." Jude said with a warning, intimidating tone. He must mean the surveillance camera that was recovered across the street, Annabeth thought. Is he saying that Luke attacked Percy first?

Before she could listen to more, a nurse tapped on her shoulder from behind. "Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to leave now." The lady said, giving an irritated look.

"Sorry," Annabeth apologized and rushed out of the hospital. The whole way home, all Annabeth could feel was betrayed. Charges are being held on Luke and not Percy which means Luke started it all. They even have proof of the incident so Annabeth couldn't defend Luke. She started to wonder if all the times Percy has been trying to tell her about Luke were all true. The worst part of it all is that she stayed on Luke's side the whole time.

* * *

"Good luck today, Percy." Sally told her son as he exited the car and entered Goode High's campus.

"Sure going to need it," he chuckled before watching his mom drive off. Percy sighed, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked to the office to receive his schedule. On his way there, students of both genders were staring at him. The girls were basically ogling him with their eyes and the boys were giving a scowl look upon their faces. Some girls were whispering to each other and winking at Percy, making Percy a little uncomfortable.

Soon, though, Percy finally reached the office where he was greeted by the main desk. It was an old lady with wrinkles on her face but wore a lot of makeup. Upon entering, the lady squinted so hard that it got Percy worried for her.

"Are you Mr. Jackson?" The lady asked with a weak, old voice.

"Yes, ma'am," Percy replied.

She nodded and gave a paper to Percy. "That's your schedule. We'll have a guide for you in a minute." The lady walked to the back, leaving Percy standing around awkwardly. After a few minutes, the lady returned with someone else behind her. It was a girl that was a senior too. She had red hair, freckles and her eyes –

"Rachel?" Percy asked, clearly shocked.

"Percy!" Rachel yelled and ran forward to hug him. He didn't hesitate to hug her back. "I didn't know you were attending Goode!"

He let go. "Yeah, same for you. I thought you were homeschooled?" Percy asked.

Rachel smiled. "I convinced my parents to let me go to an actual school for my junior-senior year. It took some hardworking lectures, but they came through so here I am."

"Awesome." Percy said and hugged her again. Rachel smiled when she saw the necklace around his neck.

"Sick necklace," Rachel complimented, trying to make slyly.

Percy decided to pitch in. "I know, some chick in Hawaii gave it to me."

"Oh really? What was her name then?"

"I don't know . . . I forgot. We kind of had a one night –" Percy got interrupted when a fist made contact with his shoulder. He laughed playfully and Rachel joined in too.

"All right. Let's get you to your locker," Rachel said after the laughter died down. She took a look at Percy's paper and nodded. "Follow me."

Rachel led Percy through the school's hallways where – again – all the students were staring. This time, girls snarled at Rachel whom ignored it all. Finally, they both reached Percy's locker and he entered in his combination. There was someone else besides him and it was a female but she was too busy digging through her locker. Percy stuffed the things he didn't need into the small compartment and closed it.

The girl who owned the locker besides him accidently dropped all her books.

"Shoot!" she said. Percy bent down to help her pick up her things. She had a lot of books for a student. "Thank you," she told him when the last book was picked up.

"Yeah no prob – " Percy stopped when the two met eyes. Grey eyes met green.

Rachel came rushing into the scene. "Oh, Percy this is Annabeth Chase," she introduced to her. "Annabeth, this is –"

"Percy," Annabeth finished for her. The way she said his name was more like a relief tone and Percy noticed it. Their eyes were still lock with each other and Rachel just stood awkwardly in the middle of the two.

"I'm guessing you two met before? " Rachel asked, breaking the tension.

The two nodded slowly in reply. "Well okay then. Um, Percy, I need to bring you to your next class. We'll see you later Annabeth." Rachel snuck her arm in Percy's and he didn't pull back. Annabeth examined the two and couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Rachel.

Though, Annabeth forced a smile on her face. "See you later," she said. Percy could obviously tell that there wasn't a good vibe between the two girls.

The rest of the school day was spent with Rachel guiding him around. Percy grew on to all the stares from everybody and kind of _enjoyed_ it. Percy was trying to avoid Annabeth all day. He even waited around the corner from his lockers to wait for Annabeth to leave her locker so that he could go to his locker without making contact with her. The whole 'avoid-Annabeth' thing was difficult since he was in all of her classes. In class, he would sit across from Annabeth – across the room from her at least. Annabeth ignored it because she understood why he didn't want to speak to her. But she knew that he would have to talk to her soon enough.

After school, Percy went home. His math tutor was coming today. There was no information on who it was. All he knows is that the person was coming over at 5 and they'll be tutoring him for 2 straight hours. Fun, Percy thought sarcastically. To make matters worse, Sally was still out at work and she won't finish until 8 so that leaves him and his tutor all alone with boringness.

It was already 4:30 and so Percy got ready. He took a quick shower and dressed in sweats and a hoodie. It's not really how you dress when someone comes over, but eh, it's his home and he wanted to feel comfortable. Just on time, the doorbell rang. Percy opened the door and was greeted by his tutor.

"Hey, Perce," Annabeth said, "we need to talk."

Percy was surprised that she was at his door. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a Hollister jacket. Even in such simple clothes, she looked amazing. Percy closed his eyes to stop staring. Annabeth gave Percy a confused look. "So – um – are you going to let me in?"

Percy had to come up with an excuse. He didn't feel like fighting with Annabeth again. "Actually, maybe later, I have a tutor coming over soon." Percy said smoothly.

Annabeth smirked and brought out a bunch of algebra books. "Hi, Percy. I'm Annabeth Chase – your math tutor for this school year." The look on Percy's face made Annabeth want to laugh. But she prevented looking like a fool by biting her bottom lip. "So are you going to let me in now?"

Percy, being dumbfounded, stepped out of the way to let Annabeth through. She took a good look around the apartment. The last time she has been here was 4 years ago and to her surprise, nothing has changed. She spotted the little hold in the corner of the living room. Memories flooded in her mind. Her and Percy were 7 and playing sword again. They always did this back then. The hole was caused by Percy when he jabbed his sword towards Annabeth, and Annabeth knowing his lame moves, moved out of the way causing his sword to puncture the wall behind her. All these good memories flashed back but ended when Percy cut in to ask if she wanted something to drink.

"Water is fine." Annabeth said and Percy went to go fetch it in the kitchen. She sat down in the same couch that was there ever since. Her heart started to beat faster as each second past when Percy was in the kitchen. She did come to tutor him but she also felt like it would be a good time to apologize for everything. Percy came into the living room with two cups in his hand. He handed one to Annabeth and sat across on the couch from Annabeth. She could tell that there was a lot going on in his mind.

Percy waited for Annabeth to start the lesson. Instead, she kept staring at him. Percy looked down, shifting places sometimes. He wondered if Annabeth wanted to do this or did it because she was told to.

"I chose do to it," Annabeth said like she was reading Percy's mind. Percy looked up to see Annabeth looking down now. "I know that your grades aren't the best and I just thought that I could help more effectively."

Percy nodded, not bothering to reply. But he did feel somewhat relieved that he may be getting his best friend back.

After all the silence, Annabeth sighed. "That's not the only reason why I chose to help you."

"Then what?" Percy suddenly asked.

"I figured we need time to talk," Annabeth confessed. "To apologize for how I've acted towards you during middle school years. You were and hopefully still my best friend. You didn't deserve all that from me."

It took a while for Percy to catch up to what is happening. But then he remembered the story about his dad and how he ruined his relationship with his brother because he didn't forgive and forget. Percy became distant with Annabeth and it killed him. He imagined how it would be like if he lost her.

"I forgive you." Percy said, meaning every single word. Annabeth's eyes softened. For the first time in 4 years, Annabeth reached over to Percy and hugged him. There wasn't a split second spared before Percy reacted. He embraced his best friend as well. He didn't even bother to question why she has only come to her senses now because he didn't care. It felt good to hug her again. His arms fit perfectly around her waist and her arms lay comfortable around his neck. Annabeth snuggled her head into the crook of his neck. She missed everything about him. She missed the salty sea-air aroma that Percy had. She missed his messy black hair that she used to ruffle up all the time. Percy missed her just as much. The two just stayed on the couch, hugging each other. The savored the moment of being in each other's arms. Something about it felt so right to the two, yet a tiny part of them held them back.

"I miss you," Percy choked out.

There was silence and Percy regretted saying that out loud. Then Annabeth chuckled, letting her hot breath tickle his neck. "I miss you too, Seaweed Brain."

Instead of 2 hours of studying, it was spent catching up on everything. Annabeth explained everything that has gone by ever since he was gone. The relationships that have developed with Grover and Nico. And how there were new friends added to the group. It took a full hour for her to tell Percy about New York in the past 4 years because it was mostly spent laughing. After that hour, Percy had his head on Annabeth's lap and his legs stretched out across the couch. Annabeth was playing with his hair while he started to explain what has been going on in Hawaii. He told her about the resort he stayed in, Keoki, Henry, Jake, the twins, and Olivia. He told her about how he was the best surfer on the island which brought a lot of shock to her. Another hour passed and the two friends were laughing.

Although, both of them kept a tiny detail from the stories they told. Annabeth didn't tell Percy about the kiss with Luke. Percy didn't tell her about Calypso. They had their suspicions, but nothing mattered in this moment of catching up with each other.

* * *

**Happy 1 month anniversary to this story! Thank you for all of you who have subscribed, Favorited, reviewed, or whatever tickled your pickle! Don't stop doing what you do! **

**Yesterday, I got the chance to visit Aulani Disney Resort. Well, I wouldn't say visit because my brother had to sneak me in there because he was off and didn't have a pass. xD So we were like ninjas in there, while he was giving me a tour of the place. And that place is AMAZING. Asides the fact that most of the things are fake like cement, it was still nice and neat. And he bought me an Aulani phone case with a 20% discount. LOL. Thanks bro ~ (If you ever manage to find my story)  
**

**D'awwwww, Percabeth. Enjoy your friendship while it last before a troll possesses me again. I'm kidding (maybe) Lmao. See ya'll next week! Make sure to subscribe, favorite, review, or whatever tickles your pickle!  
**

**~ Breana  
**


	9. Ruined Moments

_Ruined Moments_

* * *

It's been a couple weeks since Percy returned to New York and, well, things have been not been the same for him – in a good way. He gets a lot more attention from his peers than he did 4 years ago. Heck, he received almost all the senior and junior girls' phone numbers all ready. Asides all the negative attention he's been getting from the guys, none has tried to mess with him after the Luke incident.

And for the Luke situation – things are still being figured out between him and Percy. Until Luke is cleared to come out of the hospital, he's eligible to go to jail for attacking Percy. But for now, he's still stuck in a hospital bed with horrid hospital food and the constant visits from his annoying nurse.

So Percy's social life is basically intact but his school life still hasn't changed.

"Is my lesson interrupting your little nap, Mr. Jackson?"

"W-what?" Percy snapped out of his little daydream.

Mr. Lloyd, the chemistry teacher, scoffed and faced the class. "All right students, because my class seems like a bore to all of you, there will be a test tomorrow on what you've learned so far."

The class groaned and a few pieces of crumpled paper were thrown at Percy. He rolled his eyes in response to his peers. In luck, the bell rang to signal the end of class. Everyone hurried out of their seats and to the exit of the class.

"Percy," Mr. Lloyd called before Percy exited the class. Percy sighed and walked cautiously towards the front desk, prepared for a long lecture about not paying attention in class.

"Yes, Mr. Lloyd?" Percy asked as he approached his chemistry teacher.

Mr. Lloyd scratched his pre-shaved beard before speaking. "It's nearly halfway through first quarter and you're already lacking in my class."

"Yes, I know that sir, but – "

"That is why I'm giving you an opportunity to pass my class."

Percy's eyes lit up.

"I've looked through your report and saw that you're pretty good when it comes to being in the water. I'm the coach of the swim team and we need boys like you to take us to states. You do that, then consider this class a breeze."

Percy thought for a moment. He really needed to graduate and an A for this class was being laid out on the table. "Can you even do that?" He asked.

"How do you think those football jocks past their classes?" Mr. Lloyd asked a rhetorical question. The look on Percy's face made him want to face palm. "Try outs are on Friday."

* * *

"Heard you're trying out for the swim team," Annabeth said as Percy closed his locker.

Percy sighed and faced her. Annabeth's hair was let down, wearing only a tiny amount of makeup, a gray v-neck, dark blue skinny jeans, and a gray pair of vans. Percy admits that she looked good and it was hard not to stare. Percy didn't realize he was staring until Annabeth cleared her throat.

"Oh – um – yeah." Percy managed to say. "I mean, I have no choice. I have to if I want to pass Chem."

Annabeth eyebrows scrunched up. "I don't think that's a good idea, Perce."

"I know, I know. But how else am I suppose to pass that class?" He asked.

"I could tutor you? I took the class last year." Annabeth offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks. You're already tutoring me in Math. Two subjects will just be a burden." Percy replied.

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something but someone from behind. "Hey Anna – Oh."

A straight unnatural blonde-haired girl with blue eyes appeared between Percy and Annabeth. She was about 5'5" and slim. Her white dress hugged her figure tightly and showed off her light skin tone. To Percy, she was really pretty.

"Hey Silena." Annabeth said a bit uneasily.

"Hey Annabeth," Silena greeted back but her eyes were still skimming Percy. Percy averted his eyes to keep himself from staring.

"Uh, Silena this is Percy. Percy, Silena Beaugard," Annabeth introduced. Percy hesitantly reached out his hand to shake hers and Silena immediately grabbed a hold of it to shake it. As she did, she bit down on her bottom lip a bit seductively. Annabeth gave Silena a warning glare.

"I heard you're trying out for the swim team," Silena started. Her voice was high-pitched like a peppy cheerleader.

Annabeth shot a glare at Percy before he was going to confirm Silena's statement. "I-it's still being figured out." Percy stumbled to say. Annabeth smirked.

"Well, you should. Our team never got a mile close to states. All we need is a little luck and you – " Silena tapped Percy's shoulder, " – look like all the luck we need."

"Silena, you have a boyfriend." Annabeth cut in. Silena's attention shifted to Annabeth. She gave a confused look and started to take glances between Percy and Annabeth. After a while, Silena's eyes lit up like she just put a puzzle together. Her mouth was shaped like an "O."

"Oh, I see what's going on here," Silena grinned at Annabeth.

Once again, Annabeth's eyebrows scrunched up and Percy was plain confused. Silena giggled at their expressions. But before she could say another word, an African-American boy walked behind Silena and wrapped his huge arms around her. Silena smirked and leaned into the boy's touch.

"Hey babe," the boy greeted Silena.

"Hi Charles," Silena said back and gave him a kiss. "Percy, this is my boyfriend Charles Beckendorf."

Charles reached out to shake Percy's hand. "You can call me Charlie or Beckendorf. Nice to meet you," he said as he grasped a hold of Percy's hand. Percy's hand was tiny compared to Beckendorf's and could feel that his skin was rough. Percy guessed that he did some mechanic work.

"Hey," Percy said.

"Percy said he's going to be trying out for the swim team." Silena said with a smile.

Annabeth gave Percy an unsure look. "Well – " Percy tried telling them that he's still thinking about it but Silena kept talking.

"Charlie's on the team too," Silena said and smiled at her boyfriend.

"I wouldn't consider myself a part of the team. I just fix the pool filter and things like that," Beckendorf said shyly.

Silena scoffed. "Yeah if those stupid brothers stop messing with that thing, you wouldn't have to be fixing it."

Two voices appeared out of nowhere like something Silena said was a cue. "Did someone say 'brothers'?" A pair of identical boys came up from behind Annabeth and sandwiched her with their bodies. They both stood a bit shorter than Annabeth and had curly red hair. One of them had a blue shirt on and the other had a red one. They wore a mischievous smile that made Percy a bit uncomfortable because they were by Annabeth. Silena and Annabeth rolled her eyes when the boys arrived.

"Why hello there, beautiful," the boy in the red shirt told Annabeth.

"Connor, Travis. I swear, I will jab this pencil if you don't get off of me right now." Annabeth spat.

The twins immediately got off of Annabeth and the boy in the blue said, "Feisty."

"Percy, these are the most annoying twins you would ever meet. Connor and Travis Stoll." Annabeth said.

The boy in the red spoke up. "Well, actually I prefer for it to be _Travis_ and Connor Stoll. Considering I am the oldest."

The boy in the blue shirt – Connor, Percy guessed – gave his brother a good shove. "You're only 30 seconds older than me! I was _supposed_ to be first but Travis pulled me back in when I was about to get out." Travis smirked.

"No one wants to hear your fight in your mother's womb," Silena said disgustingly. Beckendorf laughed from behind her along with Percy and Annabeth.

"Whatever. You're mom is still hot," Travis told Silena. She gasped in disgust and slapped Travis square on the cheek. "Ow! Beckendorf, contain your girlfriend!"

Beckendorf tried to calm himself from his own laughter but failed miserably when his words came out as a gasp. "Yo-you asked f-for it bro."

"Boys will be boys," Annabeth mumbled loud enough for all of them to hear. They all gave her a good grin – including Percy.

"So, you're that guy who moved to Hawaii, eh?" Connor asked Percy.

"Yep, that's me." Percy replied.

"Then you're that kid that Annabeth couldn't stop talking about?" Travis cut in.

Percy raised his eyebrows at Annabeth and she looked down to hide her blush. "Is that so?"

Annabeth completely ignored Percy and faced Travis. "Don't you have to go to History? Or are you too afraid to see Katie Gardener after last year?"

Travis pursed his lips in embarrassment. Silena, Beckendorf, and Connor burst into laughter while Percy stood confused again. "You're a horrible person, Annabeth." Travis mumbled.

"I know. It's what makes me sleep at night," Annabeth smirked. The laughter died down when the one and only, Nico walked in. This time, he had Grover with him and Juniper by his side.

"Percy Jackson! You jerk!" Nico yelled.

"What?" Percy asked confusingly as his best friend approached him. Nico wore a serious expression but Percy couldn't really take him seriously because he towered Nico.

"Don't 'what?' me! I can't believe you're trying out for the team!" Nico exclaimed.

"Whoa, tune it down," Silena said with annoyance in her voice.

Nico looked at Silena and she expected him to gap but instead, his eyes opened wide. "The process is starting . . ." Nico slowly said.

Everyone – including the twins – store at Nico like he was some crazy lunatic. "What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

"You're trying out for the team. You're hanging out with Silena _freaking_ Beaugard. An – an – a – and – " Nico made all these crazy hand motions that really convinced everyone he was going crazy.

"Grover?" Percy looked at Grover for answers. Grover shrugged and gave Nico a concerned look. Percy turned to Annabeth, whom also gave Nico a concerned-worried look.

"Uh . . . Nico? What's wrong, buddy?" Percy asked.

"This!" Nico poked Percy's pectorals. "This is what's wrong!"

"My chest is . . . bothering you?" Percy asked, a bit worried for his friend.

"No, you idiot! Do you realize what you're becoming?" Nico eyed Percy.

"I – uh . . ." Percy started.

"You're popular for hell's sake!" Nico yelled. Both Grover and Annabeth rubbed their temples while Silena and Beckendorf where giving Nico a 'he-needs-help' look.

"And that's a bad thing because . . ." Percy continued.

"Babe, please take Nico away," Juniper whispered into Grover's ear. Grover groaned and took Nico by his ear.

"I'm not done here!" Nico yelled.

"Yes you are," Grover told Nico and dragged him out of the hallway. After Nico was clear of sight, Percy took in a deep breath.

"Well . . . that wasn't awkward at all," Silena said.

"Sorry about him. He's just – well, I have no explanation for him," Percy said, shaking his head.

"It's fine." Silena said. "Anyways, after school all of us go to this burger joint down the street from here."

Annabeth's eyes lit up and she slowly shook her head at Silena. Silena noticed the sudden nervousness in Annabeth's eyes and stopped what she was going to say.

"Uh, if you're free this afternoon, you should come." Silena continued slowly. Annabeth face palmed behind Percy.

"Thanks. But I actually have something to do after school," Percy said nervously. Annabeth sighed mentally but the determination on Silena's eyes made her want to punch Silena.

"Oh, c'mon, Percy. Don't be shy. Annabeth will be there." Silena smiled. Annabeth shot a glare at her in response to her statement at the end.

Percy turned around to face Annabeth. She sighed. "You're going to regret it." Annabeth told Percy.

"Oh, then I'll definitely be going," Percy smirked.

"Awesome, see you there then." Silena said. The bell rung for the next class to start and so they all separated in pairs. Silena with Beckendorf, Connor with Travis, and Percy with Annabeth.

While Annabeth and Percy were walking to their next class, Annabeth punched Percy in the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" Percy yelled and rubbed his bruised bicep.

"When someone tells you that you're going to regret something, you don't do it!" Annabeth growled.

"Well, you told me," Percy started.

"Especially when I tell you." Annabeth said lowly.

"And that's exactly why I'm going. Because you don't want me to go," Percy smirked.

Annabeth groaned. "You're so going to regret this, Seaweed Brain."

"I know," Percy smirked, "but it's so worth disobeying you, Wise Girl."

* * *

After school, the friends gathered in the parking lot. Silena and Beckendorf were having their "time" by his car, waiting for Annabeth and Percy. The Stolls were close by, planning something deceiving. After a while, there were two figures approaching the car. Silena pulled away from Beckenford when she heard laughter.

"They're so cute together! Don't you think?" Silena nudged Beckendorf.

"I guess," Beckenford replied while whipping off the lipstick from his lips. "She seems happier around him."

"Now that you put it that way, you're right, babe. I've never seen her _this_ happy since freshmen year." Silena noticed. In the distance, Silena saw Annabeth laughing while Percy was smiling and looking at her. Silena also noticed _how_ Percy looked at Annabeth. It reminded her of how Beckenford would look at her sometimes.

"Why do you have that look?" Beckenford asked Silena cautiously.

"What look?" Silena asked back.

"The look that you have when you're planning something probably devious," Beckendorf said.

Silena smirked. "You know me too well."

Beckendorf backed away from his girlfriend a little. He knows that when she wants something, she gets it. Nothing gets in her way. Literally, nothing. Not even himself can stop Silena when she's up to something. "Maybe you should just let fate take them we're they have to go," Beckendorf tried to reason.

"Right. I'm sure fate had an awesome plan four years ago?" Silena asked sarcastically.

"What are you talking about?" Beckendorf asked Silena.

Silena hushed her boyfriend. "Be quiet! They're near."

Annabeth walked up to Silena, smiling. Percy joined Beckendorf. Annabeth eyed Silena suspiciously when she noticed that Silena had a little devilish shine in her eye.

"What were you and Charlie talking about?" Annabeth asked her, while eyeing Silena out with her famous glare.

"Nothing," Silena replied with that high-pitched peppy voice of hers. Annabeth didn't buy it though. So she still eyed her suspiciously but then Percy's voice interrupted the situation.

"Dude!" Percy yelled disbelievingly.

Beckendorf laughed in response. "Go ahead, you can touch it if you like."

"Really? "

"Yeah. Go ahead," Beckendorf offered.

"What are you two talking about?" Annabeth asked as her and Silena turned around to see what was going on. There, they saw Percy all over Beckendorf's car. Silena growled lowly. "What is it?" Annabeth asked Silena.

"I swear, I hate that car. Charles gives that thing more attention than he does to me." Silena said with venom in her voice.

Annabeth bit her lip to avoid laughing. Silena glared at her. "What?" She asked.

"Nothing. It's just – you're jealous of a car," Annabeth stated.

"Oh, shut up. Looks like you're in competition with a car," Silena retorted. Annabeth's eyebrows scrunched up – again – in confusion. Silena smiled and gestured to look towards the car where Percy was still admiring Beckenford's silver Porsche Carrera GT .

"She must have cost you millions!" Percy said.

"Actually, I built her. Made from scratch and all." Beckendorf replied.

Percy's eyes shot up and store at Beckendorf in disbelief. "You're joking right?" He asked.

"Nope. She's a beauty isn't she? Not to brag." Beckendorf said with triumph.

"Okay, guys, enough talking about the silly car," Silena cut in, "let's go."

* * *

After the short ride, Beckendorf pulled up to a small café. A huge bright sign hung from above saying TEDDIES' BURGERS. There was an outside patio where tables and sun umbrellas were. What caught Percy's attention was a big wall that stood outside of the burger joint. It stood about 10 ft tall and it had a huge animated painting of New York. It was very colorful and eye-catching to Percy.

"You're letting your ADHD take over, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth whispered to him. She snaked her arm in-between his – making him nervous – and led him inside.

When they got inside, Percy was pretty impressed. It was a pretty huge place. It had one main level and an upper level. There was a stereotypical 80's theme – checkerboard floors, colorful walls, and booths set up around the room. There was even a huge jukebox on the far side of the joint.

"Annabeth, why don't you take Percy for a little tour? We'll be at the usual booth when you two are done," Silena said. Before Annabeth could even protest, Silena was already off with Beckendorf hand-in-hand.

"Guess I have no choice," Annabeth told Percy.

"Oh, c'mon, you know you would love to," Percy said in a cockily manner.

Annabeth rolled her eyes in response because she couldn't deny it. She kept her arm around Percy's muscular one the whole time. Nearly three minutes into the tour, someone already interrupted. A familiar red-head rolled towards the two in skates.

"Hey Annabeth," Rachel greeted her. Annabeth returned a half-hearted smile back. "Hi . . . Percy?"

"Hey Rache," Percy greeted back, "I didn't know you worked here." He noticed her wearing a red polo and a visor with the Teddie's logo on it.

"Remember how I had to convince my parents to let me go to school? Yeah, well getting a part time job was part of the deal." Rachel said.

"That's cool." Percy said. Annabeth stood on the side, feeling a bit uncomfortable, but firmly kept her arm around Percy's.

"I can take you on a tour if you like? There's an employee section in the back that I think you'd like. I have to sneak you in though," Rachel offered, totally disregarding that Annabeth's arm was hugging onto Percy's.

"Um . . ." Percy looked at Annabeth, who just shrugged.

"C'mon, Perce, I won't bite," Rachel told him.

Percy didn't want to leave Annabeth, but at the same time, he didn't want to be mean and reject Rachel's offer. "I'll see you later then?" Percy asked Annabeth. Her expression fell a little but she still managed a smile.

"Sure. Have fun." Annabeth told Percy. Rachel basically pried Percy away from Annabeth's grasp.

Annabeth joined Silena at the booth close to the window and Rachel took Percy on the tour.

"Where's Percy?" Silena asked Annabeth.

"That red-head took him for a tour," Annabeth tried to say calmly.

"Eek! I like this love triangle." Silena squealed. "Annabeth jealous of Rachel."

"What are you talking about? I don't like Percy like that," Annabeth grumbled.

"That's what you think, my very in denial friend," Silena pointed out, "but trust me when I say, something's going on over there." She pointed at Rachel and Percy. They were entering the employee lounge together. Annabeth couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable with Percy being alone with Rachel.

* * *

"And this is the employee lounge," Rachel introduced. Percy was awed. But not by the plasma screen tv hanging on the wall, or the fake waterfall – but what caught his eye was the huge aquarium located in the wall.

"Yeah, I thought you'd like that," Rachel said with a smile. "Go ahead. Check it out."

Percy walked to the aquarium like an anxious zombie for brains. He was amazed at how the tank glowed with that blue neon color. All the beautiful freshwater fishes swam peacefully around. As they swam passed, Percy sensed the feeling of welcoming. Under one of the rock decoration, there was a small eel.

"He never comes out of there." Rachel cut in. "He's a bit shy."

Percy didn't know what came to him, but he brought his finger up to the glass and tapped on it 3 times as lightly as he could. A few seconds passed when the eel from under the rock showed movement. Percy lightly tapped on the glass one more time and there, he saw the eel's head poke out from under the rock.

The eel's eyes are what caught Percy's. Its eyes were green, like his. There was some kind of connection that Percy and the eel were sharing and it couldn't be explained. The eel lowered its head and returned to under the rock.

Little did Percy know, Rachel was watching the whole time. Percy shook his head like he was waking up from a trance.

"So, you're a eel whisperer now? Is there something else I should know about you?" Rachel joked.

"He's just scared," Percy said. "New surroundings, no friends, and confused."

Rachel examined Percy closely. "You're strange. You know that right?"

Percy chuckled. He didn't even bother to answer her so they both exited the lounge.

"I have to go back to work. I'll see you later, kay?" Rachel said.

"All right. Have fun," Percy told her with a lopsided grin. Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed and his ridiculous expression.

Percy was walking back to the booth where Annabeth, Silena, and Beckendorf were until someone from behind howled.

"Percy Jackson?" a familiar voice called out. "No way!"

Percy turned around and saw Ethan Nakamura and the rest of Luke's "friends." Ethan didn't change one bit. He still had that wiry built body and glossy black hair. This time, though, he had a black eye patch over his left eye. Percy pursed his lips to stop himself from laughing. Luckily, Ethan didn't notice.

"I don't want any trouble, Nakamura," Percy told him.

"Should've thought of that before you put Luke in the hospital," Ethan said. The boys behind him nodded in agreement.

"Well, when you see him, tell him not to jump me," Percy retorted, "and why are you here anyways? You're a graduate. Go do something with your life besides pick on other people."

Ethan's jaw line tightened. "Why you little – "

"Gods, shut up, Ethan," someone cut in.

Ethan's eyes averted to behind Percy where the voice was coming from. Percy could feel the cold glare from behind him. Ethan looked down and backed away, taking his friends with him. Percy was impressed by whoever scared them off.

"Hey, thanks for backing me up," Percy said and turned around to face the person.

"No problem. And stop looking at me like that, Kelp Head," Thalia said.

"Nice to see you again, Pinecone Face," Percy said sarcastically. He started towards Annabeth again. "Come with us, Thalia. Annabeth is over there."

Thalia stopped Percy from walking by pushing on his chest a little. "About Annabeth . . . we need to talk," she said, "alone."

In the corner of Percy's eye, he saw Annabeth looking at him. _I told you_, she mouthed to him. Percy groaned when Thalia dragged him to the back of the burger joint. Now he understood what Annabeth meant when she said he was going to regret coming here.

* * *

About a half an hour later, Percy and Thalia returned to the booth where Annabeth, Silena, and Beckendorf were. Percy slid next to Annabeth with a smile on his face. Annabeth, however, eyed him suspiciously.

Silena got off the phone and sighed. "Babe, my dad wants me home now."

"It is getting a little late. I'll go pay the bill and meet you at the car," Beckendorf said.

"Okay. Percy, Annabeth. We'll drop you guys off," Silena offered them. "Let's go."

* * *

Finally, Beckendorf pulled up to the apartment where Percy and Annabeth lived. Percy exited first and held the door open for Annabeth to come out too.

"Thanks for the ride," Percy said.

"No problem. See you two tomorrow," Silena said and smiled at them. Beckendorf drove off again, leaving Annabeth and Percy alone at the lobby of the apartment. They both took the elevator to their floor. Annabeth's apartment was 3 away from Percy's.

"This is my stop," Annabeth said and stood in the doorway.

"Yep," was all Percy said before using his forearms to lean on her doorframe.

"So I'm guessing you're going to try out for the swim team," Annabeth sighed.

Percy pursed his lips in a tight line and nodded his head in response. Annabeth took a deep breath before speaking. "Whatever it takes for you to graduate, I guess."

"See, that's not the point, Wise Girl. I'm not doing it for my Chemistry grade. I want to do it because it's what I love. I don't want to live under a rock anymore. Things have changed for me since I left and I really can't decide if I like it or not. But I'm not going to let any opportunity like this go to waste," Percy said. All he could think about at the moment was the eel under the rock and how it was too scared to come out. He didn't blame it. The aquarium wasn't its natural home. The ocean was. Percy was the eel. He lived as an underdog all his life and now, he's brand new – like he outgrew his old self. But still, he kept himself sealed in his past, like how the eel did under the rock.

"I get it, Percy. Things have changed. _You've_ changed. And I understand that it's hard for you to adjust to everything that's going on right now," Annabeth said.

Percy sighed but nodded his head in agreement.

"But don't get too cocky with yourself. You're still a Seaweed Brain. Always have been and always will be one," Annabeth joked.

"You just ruined a moment," Percy chuckled.

"What moment?" Annabeth asked. Then she came to realize Percy looking into her eyes. She saw the softness in his eyes that made her feel comfort. It was a look that wasn't really shared between them before. Annabeth started to think about whether or not she liked the changed Percy. But the moment she was caught in now - looking into those sea-green eyes – she knew that no matter what, Percy will always be the same old Percy.

With all the thinking going on in both of their minds, they didn't even realize that they were leaning closer to each other. Percy was only a couple inches away from getting a kiss from the person he loved until Annabeth's brothers interrupted.

"Hi, Percy!" Bobby greeted. Matthew jumped on Annabeth's back.

Percy and Annabeth immediately pulled back. "That moment," Percy mumbled, barely audible.

Annabeth groaned and shook Matthew off her back. "Can you two go annoy someone else?"

"Why? Were we interwupting something?" Matthew asked with that baby voice of his.

"Annie and Percy was probably kissing!" Bobby yelled.

"Ew! Don't kiss her, Percy! She has coodies!" Matthew warned Percy. Percy chuckled in response.

"Gods, you guys are so annoying! We weren't kissing and I don't have coodies." Annabeth scolded them. "Now go watch some TV or something."

"Fine. Bye, Percy!" Both Bobby and Matthew said at the same time.

"Bye, kiddos," Percy waved and smiled.

Annabeth faced Percy again and covered her face in shame. "I'm _so_ sorry about them."

"It's fine. Kids will be kids," Percy said, "I should probably get going. Thank you for today."

"No problem. So – uh – see you tomorrow then?" Annabeth asked.

"Yep. Bye, Wise Girl," said Percy as he walked to his apartment.

Something clicked in Annabeth's mind once he started walking away. "Wait! Seaweed Brain," Annabeth called out. Percy stopped, turned around, and cocked an eyebrow up at her. "What were you and Thalia talking about back at the restaurant?"

"Nothing important," Percy lied. "See you later," he said, not allowing Annabeth to say anything else.

Annabeth watched him as he entered his apartment. She knew that Percy knew something he's not supposed to know and it's all because of Thalia. Now it started to bother her because he knows something she doesn't.

* * *

"Mom, I'm home!" Percy yelled as he closed the door to his apartment. He was a little overjoyed because he almost kissed Annabeth. The best part to his excitement is that she was about to kiss him too.

There was no response from Sally so Percy called out again. "Mom?"

Still no response. Percy checked the living room. No one was there but he did spot his mom's purse on the table.

"Mom?" Percy called out again. His voice was more worried now. He checked the hallway and all the rooms. No one. Percy flipped to panic mode now. A loud crashing noise came from the kitchen. Percy was in his room when he heard it. Panic raced through him and he rummaged through his room to find something to defend himself. He reached under the bed and his hand found something. He took it out and was surprised to what he saw. It was the golden pen that Mr. Brunner gave him four years ago – Riptide. He uncapped the pen and it had that sharp-razor point. _Good enough,_ Percy thought.

He ran to the kitchen and barged in. He held up Riptide to attack the offender.

"I'm sorry," a man in his thirties said while bending down to pick up the shattered plate on the floor.

"Percy! I didn't know you came home," Sally noticed only now. Percy quickly capped Riptide before she could see it. "Paul, this is my son Percy. Percy this is Paul Blofis."

The man with longish salt-and-pepper hair shook Percy's hand. He wore a black shirt and a brown jacket. He reminded Percy of a television actor for some reason. Then Percy came to realization that he seen this man before.

"Mr. Blofis?" Percy asked after realizing that the man is his English teacher.

"You can call me Paul. We're not in school," the man said.

"Paul will be joining us for dinner." Sally interrupted. "Which reminds me, you're grounded, Percy."

"What? Why?" Percy choked out.

"You had a tutor session after school, Percy. You made Paul wait one whole hour before I came home and you didn't bother to call me, telling me we're you were at." Sally said with disappointment.

"But mom –"

"No 'buts', Percy. You're grounded and that's final," Sally said with a firm voice.

Percy groaned. "Oh, c'mon Sally. Don't be so hard on him. I mean, we did catch up on a lot of things since college since Percy was gone," Paul said. Percy was shocked that he was defending him.

Sally blushed and thought for a moment. "Fine, fine. But you're doing dishes and garbage for a week, Percy."

"No problem," Percy smirked. "Thanks, Paul," Percy whispered to him. Paul patted Percy on the back.

"No problem. And I would ditch a tutor session to hang with my girlfriend too," Paul whispered back with a wink.

* * *

**Characters belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

**I'm _so_ sorry for the late update. My wonderful excuse is finals. Last week I was stressing about my finals for my summer school classes and so that's why I didn't write. So I guess after finals and summer school finished, I had a total writers block this week. That's why this chapter is mostly dialogue; it's easier to write when my mind is totally blank. But anyways, I really am sorry. And for those of you authors that read this story and are in High School, I give you so much credit. It's my first year of High School and I'm already stressing out for summer school. Let's take a while to thank all High School/older authors on FanFiction.  
**

**And some people might find this chapter pointless. (Don't blame you.) But there are a few conflicts going on here so, just letting those people know.  
**

**Allstarry707: Thank you for this review. I'm not at _all _offended by your review. In fact, it's reviews like this that help me, a rookie writer, to improve myself. Yes, I do know I have grammatical mistakes and it annoys me to sometimes. And the reason for that is because I just type my chapters and don't really re-read it until it's published. Also, I know that I write in paste tense yet switch to present tense sometimes in the story. It's a horrible style of writing I developed after reading Spirit Bear. I guess I really liked how the author of that book writes so I started writing like that too. And now that I think about it, it's a really bad habit and I'm really trying to get out of it. And beta reader? (Sorry, I'm still a bit new to FanFic so I don't know a lot about this things) But I'm guessing that's like my mini proof reader before I update the chapter? Lol, explain to me...But if that is, I would love to have one (especially you as one) but I would have to think about it more because I really do stress on my updates per week thing and don't know if you'd be able to fix up the chapter on time (since I do write most of the chapter on Fridays). So please Private Message me or something? Thank you.  
**

**So ANYWAYS, thank you all for your patience. I really am sorry - again. Subscribe, favorite, follow, review, or whatever tickles your pickle.  
**

**~ Breana.  
**

**PS: I'm a female. (To that person who asked if I was a "dude" or not.) Lol  
**


	10. AN

Don't worry I hate Authors notes too.

All right, well, most of you are pissed at the fact that I didn't update in a while. And some of you think that I just gave up this story. First, I am truly sorry. I've started my first year in High School and the stress with homework is too much to bare. I've already mentioned that I don't want this story to be my priority and it's just for fun. But overtime, readers expect this to be a priority and I can't do anything about it. If I loose readers, then I loose readers. Thank you for those who support me, it really helps.

Second. I am **not **giving up on this story. My goal is to finish it and I tend to stick with that goal. But it's hard for me to update the next chapter. Reason being that my school hands out laptops and so I lost all my old documents. So I'm having a major writers block trying to create the next chapter since the old one was perfect - but I lost it -_-

So that's it basically. I'll be honest and say that my updating schedule has been broken. You will expect slower updates, but as my time here in High School progresses and I adjust, I should start going back into my weekly schedule. If you are not pleased with that, then I'm sorry to say that I can't help you. But for all the faithful readers of my story, I'll be continuing just for you.

AND also one more thing. I've created a Devianart account. (I love to draw) and I was thinking about creating like little comics for this story. Don't worry though, I'll still be writing fan fiction, but I thought maybe a little art will take over the dead time of not updating. So should I do that or not? Respond by reviewing. This is my link

Thank you all for being very patient and I'm sorry if you got excited over this update and only to find out it was an Authors Note. I'll update by Saturday or Sunday. I love you all, God bless.


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